Ordinary Researcher
by BANIX
Summary: My name is Xavier, a beheeyem. My trainer, Shannon Juniper, is many things. A brilliant researcher, a loving trainer, a clumsy idiot, just to list a few. She is so ordinary yet special. Although she could really make an effort to not get into trouble all the time. But as her pokemon, it is up to me to ensure she gets out of the troubles she found herself in unscathed. Right?
1. Chapter 1- Shannon Juniper

"_Eeeeek_! **Don't move**! Don't step on my papers!"

"Ah, sorry, sorry." Justin, a fellow researcher working in the same lab as me, apologised while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "But you really should organise your workplace a little better, Shannon. As a fellow researcher, I understand that this could be a little hard to achieve when you are fully diving into your research, but still…"

"I know, I know." I sighed as Xavier, my beheeyem, helped to move said papers out of the way for now. He will help put it back later when there are no more guests knocking on the doors of my office. "What is it that you are finding me for anyway?"

Justin merely pointed at the clock hanging on the wall of my office.

"When was the last time you had your meal?"

"Eh… _oops_?" I said guiltily as now it is my turn to rub the back of my head sheepishly. I nervously adjusted the glasses sitting on the bridge of my nose and I can feel Xavier doing a mental eyeroll in our shared telepathy link.

_'I told you to have your meal exactly two hours ago before someone comes and tell you off. I reserve the rights to say, "I told you so."'_

Stupid Xavier and his sass.

_'I know! Sheesh! I'm sorry!'_

"Yeah, _oops_." Justin interrupted my telepathic conversation with Xavier with a dry voice as he made a move to exit my office, a cup of steaming hot coffee in hand. "Go get a quick bite before Cedric or Aurea chews me out."

"I will! So sorry!" I said apologetically as I put my palms together and dipped my head in his direction. Justin merely chuckled before he headed back to his office.

Lancelot, my pawniard, wordlessly helped me with arranging my messy stacks of papers into slightly neater piles as Xavier and I handled the more important ones. Rogers, my breviary, squawked as he picked up any littered trash strewn on the floor and promptly tossed them into a nearby bin. Bambi, my sawsbuck, helped me push the heavy equipment back into their original position with help from Koopa, my carracosta.

"Okay, let's go for our lunch… uh, I mean dinner?" I corrected myself when I checked just _exactly_ what time it is now.

My entire team of pokemon did an eyeroll (_and why are they so in sync?!_) but followed me out anyway. I greeted any researchers I can see that are still working in the lab located at Nuvema Town. This lab belongs to Uncle Cedric, who is off exploring something somewhere, so I probably won't see him until quite some time later.

I hummed a merry tune as I skipped along to the nearest eatery that I know of. My pokemon fell in step with me as they travelled along. Rogers took to the skies and squawked loudly, scaring any patrats or lillipups that may be nearby with the din he is making.

I still can't believe it. I have been reincarnated into the world of **_Pokemon_**, and I now have my own pokemon friends.

I don't exactly remember how I came to be here. One moment I was asleep, the next moment I found myself as a crying baby in the hands of Christopher Juniper and Abigail Juniper. They are my parents in this world until their untimely demise when I was five. From what I knew, they died in an air crash when the plane they were on collided into a pokemon that happened to be flying in the same airspace.

I regret never getting to know them. I wasn't the most obedient daughter when I was young, still confused and afraid of what was going on around me in this strange world. It was their deaths that sobered me up, that this is not a dream.

The Junipers, which I am now a part of, are a family of researchers. Cedric, my paternal uncle who raised me after my parents' death, was the regional professor of the Unova region until Aurea took over recently. My parents were researchers too. It was how Dad and Mum met each other.

Naturally, I became one as well. It's hard to not be one when you are surrounded by researchers all day long since young. The environment which I was raised up in moulded me to be one, and the fact that I am always curious about everything cemented the road that I would eventually walk on. The way my family is so passionate about understanding pokemon rubs off on me, and it wasn't long before I realised that I also have a good enough brain to understand all the complex things that I needed to learn to be a researcher. And so, I decided, '_Hey, why not_?', and became a researcher as well.

My parents' untimely deaths spurred me to focus my studies on Pokemon Migratory Behaviour. The main cause of my parents' deaths was because no one expected for the plane that they were on to run into a huge flock of unfezant that were migrating. People expected for their migrating season to be starting at least a month later. Their migrating patterns changed without any warning, which indirectly caused my parents' deaths. When I first dug further on pokemon migratory behaviours, I realised that there was too little research done on this particular field of study. Too many researchers focused on areas like pokemon evolution, breeding, human-pokemon relationships, etcetera etcetera to be bothered to be learning about pokemon migrating habits.

My uncle is an expert on Pokemon Distribution and Biology, which ties in very closely to the field which I am specialising in. It was his influence that got me interested in Pokemon Biology as well, and it became my secondary research specialisation. It was hard trying to specialise in both fields, but I somehow made it. I passed the exams for my researcher license with flying colours and now I am a full-fledged researcher that specialises in Pokemon Migratory Behaviour and also in Pokemon Biology.

My uncle gave me his full support behind my decision when I told him my reasons for my choices, so did Aurea. Sophia, my aunt, did so too, but unfortunately, she passed away three years ago from an incurable disease. I miss her too.

I have no idea why I am here living a second time and frankly, I have long since stopped thinking about it. It's not like I will get any answers. I am fine with the way my life is. I remembered enough about my previous life that I wasn't anyone outstanding. I am a meek person that will stutter when everyone's attention is on me. I cowed and cringed at the thought of being in the spotlight and the fact hasn't changed. I am a science geek, the only one in class that thought that discussing biology and chemistry facts are more interesting than participating in the latest celebrity gossips. I am always the odd one out, the lonely geeky girl with no friends.

My life was boring. My life here still is, considering that the only thing I do day in and day out is research, _research_, and **_more_**_ research_. But then again, **_pokemon_**. Things are always exciting when pokemon is involved. I don't remember much about the pokemon series. I stopped playing the game at around Pokemon Emerald. I was bad at the game anyway. I don't know how to play the game other than spamming the same move over and over again where other people crafted elaborate strategies to win competitive battles. Something about lowering and raising stats, IVs, and whatnots. The only stat that I was concerned with is to lower my opponents' health to zero since that was the only way I knew how to play the game.

I knew I would make a bad trainer, so I didn't apply to be one. I tried pokemon battling before with Xavier, and for the life of me I can never seem to command him effectively in battle. I was always too slow to catch up with the pace of the battle and Xavier always grumbled about how slow I am in giving him orders. After our 22nd consecutive loss, we decided that the two of us should stay clear of pokemon battling to not further hurt our already bruised ego. I know enough as a researcher what is needed for a pokemon to evolve. I know how to devise training regimes to put them through and help them gain strength to trigger the evolution process. It worked, as can be seen from the current state of my pokemon team. Only Lancelot remains a pawniard because his species takes a little more time to evolve and he was the latest to join us only two months ago. He is the youngest on the team, practically a baby.

Still, that means that my team lack battle experience despite having the required power. But that's fine. None of us really craves battles and we only need to know enough to defend ourselves when we are out doing fieldwork.

Xavier is my starter and I got him as an elgyem. He was my birthday gift from Uncle Cedric. Xavier's species has the ability to manipulate memory, which is a scary ability to have. Thankfully, their species don't use this aspect of their power without a very good reason. Imagine if a crook has an army of beheeyem at his or her disposal…. Urgh.

Naturally, Xavier found out about my reincarnation secret not long after we became partners. It's hard to hide that from him when he constantly invades the privacy of my mind to talk to me. Surprisingly, he wasn't the least bit bothered by it. In fact, none of my pokemon are when I told them about it. Rogers even have the cheek to scoff in my face and threw a bunch of feathers at me, annoyed at me for waking him up from his nap to tell him this fact of myself. He couldn't care less how many lifetimes I had lived as long as I feed him regularly.

"Shannon! Finally got your head out of those papers? The usual?"

Ah, it seems that had I reached my favourite eatery. I entered and spotted the owner of this place, Kolvski, straightaway.

"The usual! Thank you!" I replied cheerfully at the man who had practically watched me grew up due to how often I visited this place. The burly man laughed before heading back into the kitchen, leaving me to find a seat in the eatery. A few of the locals that I knew personally greeted me as I greeted them back. Nuvema isn't a very big town. If you lived here long enough, you will get to know most of them in time.

It wasn't long before Kolvski emerged with steaming hot meals, expertly balancing the plates on his arms as he served food to me and my pokemon. I wolfed them down. I have research to get back to.

_'You will choke if you continue to eat in this manner.'_

_'I eat however I want- mffph!'_

_'I told you so.'_

Lancelot smacked me on my back with his arm and I coughed out a meatball that got itself partially stuck in my throat.

_'Sometimes I wonder who the trainer is and who is the pokemon here. Why am I the one taking care of you when it should be the other way around?'_

_'Shut up, Xavier, before you choke.'_

_'I say whatever I want- ack!'_

_'I told you so. Karma is a bitch.'_

This time, Rogers is the one to smack Xavier on the back. However, Rogers used too much force with his wing and sent Xavier flying out of the eatery instead. Thankfully, Xavier didn't knock into anything on his way out.

"**Shannon**! What did I tell you about smacking your pokemon in my place?!"

"Sorry! It won't happen again!"

Kolvski grumbled something about 'Youths these days' before returning back to work and I glared at Rogers.

"You did that on purpose."

Rogers just squawked out a laugh before returning back to devouring his meal. Xavier floated back to us with his psychic powers, obviously displeased. Whatever food that was previously stuck in his throat is now dislodged.

_'One day, I will get fed up with you guys and-'_

Koopa is the one to smack him down onto the floor this time, a signal that she wants Xavier to shut up and just eat his food. Oh crap, I hope Kolvski didn't see or hear that.

"**SHANNON**! _What did I just say_?!"

Of course he did.

"I'M SORRY!"

* * *

**AN: The life of a pokemon researcher in the pokemon verse is often overlooked, and I thought it will be fun to write about one. I had this idea a long time ago, just right after IJWTTTW but I just never managed to make it work until now. Hopefully this story won't bore you due to the obvious lack of battles. I had contemplated on whether I should make Shannon a battler, but I decided against it because that will derail from the core of the story. This story is about the life of a researcher, not a trainer.**

**In any case, hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 16, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1) ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2) ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3) ****Pawniard (Lancelot), male**

**4) ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5) ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**


	2. Chapter 2- Researcher's Fieldwork

"So they flew through Driftveil from Mistralton before flying along the coast to reach Accumula…" I mumbled to myself as I jotted down on my map the observed path that the flock of swannas and duckletts have took to reach Accumula. With Koopa holding a squawking ducklett down, I removed a GPS transmitter off its body before letting it go. These are the ones researchers used to track pokemon movements. They don't hurt the pokemon in any way and they don't get damaged easily, which makes our work easier.

"That should be the last one." I told my team as I dropped the GPS transmitter into a small cloth bag.

_'Finally. These dumb avians and their incessant squawking. Reminds me of a certain someone.'_

Rogers pecked at Xavier for that remark and Xavier retaliated by tossing Rogers away with Psychic. I simply ignored them as I jumped onto Bambi's back and patted her on the head to signal to her to head for our next destination. With Bambi around, travelling becomes so much easier. She's such a dear (_pun totally intended_). What would I do without her?

"Koopa? Be a sweetie and set them straight, would you?" I asked without looking, still engrossed in analysing the readings I had just gathered. A crash and a squawk told me that Koopa had did what I just asked her to.

_'Have I ever mentioned how much I hate you for setting Koopa on us?'_

_'You just did. Now shut up so I can concentrate.'_

_'I say whatever I-'_

_'One word. Koopa.'_

That shut Xavier up immediately.

Lancelot marched beside Bambi as the rest of them followed behind. The six of us travelled silently as I pinned up my bangs with a hair clip to prevent it from obscuring my vision. I poured through the data I transferred onto my tablet to better organise them. I tend to keep my light brown hair to shoulder length due to the fact that I travel a lot to do fieldwork. Being a Pokemon Researcher on pokemon's migratory behaviour often means that I have to get down and dirty to get first-hand data and observations. I cannot be a good researcher if I simply hide myself behind a desk and write reports all day long.

_'We are here.'_

Huh, time sure flies when trying to read through my findings.

I looked down from the cliff we are at. Right below us is the sea that surrounds the southern part of Unova. I can see the white sands that made up the beach too. Maybe I should come here to enjoy a beach day when I finally find a break in my busy schedule.

"Alright, you guys know the drill. Scout the waters, find the school of basculins we tagged a few months ago, find those with the transmitters and retrieve the transmitters, all that jazz."

_'Geez, for someone who does not even need to lift a finger, you sure are bossy.'_

The only answer Xavier got was a smack from Koopa's flipper that sent him tumbling down helplessly towards the waters below.

_'**KOOOPAAAA**!'_

My team all laughed at Xavier's plight before they all jumped down to do what I commanded them to do. This is a usual drill for us by now.

My hands grabbed firmly onto Bambi as she used her strong legs to control the speed of our descent, her hooves skidding against the rocky slope that we are using to slide on. We skidded at a rapid speed, the wind blowing at my face and roughing up my short bob of hair as I let out a whoop of delight at the exhilaration I am experiencing with my team. I adjusted my glasses every now and then, can't have them falling off when I can barely see a few meters ahead of me without them.

Lancelot is right beside us, his little frame zipping left and right to avoid any protruding rocks. Koopa is sliding on the underside of her belly, her tough shell made it such that she is not bothered by the friction at the slightest. Rogers flew overhead before making a sharp nosedive for the sea.

Bambi crouched a little before doing a powerful leap when we are at the end of our "slide". In the next second, we are jumping across protruding rocks jutting out from the vertical rocky cliff that Bambi used as stairs to get us safely to the beach below. Koopa simply slide off the end of the rocky slope and flew like a launched missile before gravity pulled her down, allowing herself to dive into the waters with a huge splash. Rogers is already at the surface of the waters, fishing out basculins with his talons and throwing them onto the beach where Lancelot and Xavier are waiting. Xavier held them down with his psychic powers while also using his powers to search for which basculins were tagged and mentally conveying his findings to Rogers and Koopa. Lancelot swiftly detached the transmitters on the basculins before tossing the water types back into the sea. I can see Koopa herding the school of basculins towards where Rogers is, her snapping jaws scaring them into wherever she wants them to go.

We may not be good at battling, but we are a highly efficient team nevertheless.

_'Stupid shell-brain. I nearly died back there!' _Xavier complained as we watched Rogers and Koopa at work, cooperating flawlessly to round up the school of basculins that I had tagged near Opelucid City a few months prior to monitor their migratory patterns.

A basculin flew through the air towards Xavier, who stopped the struggling fish from hitting him with his psychic powers.

_'Ah, ah, that same trick won't work on-'_

**SMACK!**

He didn't see the second one coming at him. I have to appreciate how accurate Koopa is in her throws. How did she do that when she has _flippers_ instead of hands? Why is it that the laws of physics somehow don't apply here?! It doesn't make any scientific sense!

_'Damn it Koopa!'_

"For a psychic, you sure are awfully chatty."

_'Shut up, human.'_

"Hey! I'm your trainer! Show some respect!"

_'It feels like **I'm** the trainer here. Hey! **HEY**! STOP THAT, KOOPA!'_

I laughed unashamedly at Xavier's plight as basculins after basculins rained at him from the sea. Even Rogers joined in as he tossed a few at him from the sky. Lancelot wisely stayed out of the happenings and diligently worked on dismantling the transmitters for me. Good old Lancelot. I knew I could count on him.

I watched on as Bambi kicked whatever basculins flopping on the beach that are now freed of the transmitters back to the sea. Pokemon are tough, a little kick wouldn't even scratch them. Those basculins probably didn't even feel that kick. Rogers, Xavier, and Koopa are now engaged in a three-way battle, trying to see who can first drown the other in sand by throwing sand at each other.

Ah well, another normal day for an ordinary researcher for me.

I felt Lancelot tugging at my jeans.

"Yes? What is it, Lancelot?"

Lancelot pointed to the direction at my back, and I paled when I spotted what he was trying to tell me.

Crap, we had just stumbled into the territory of a _laaaaarrgggggeee_ colony of dwebble and crustles. Individually, they are not much of a threat, but facing such a large group is a big problem for us.

"Uh, guys?" I called for the rest of my team as I quickly hopped onto Bambi's back. Thankfully, we have gathered all the transmitters we need. We can get out of here now. "We have a situation over here!"

_'Take that, stupid shell-brain and dumb squawks! You guys can never match my psychic prowess muahahaha!'_

"Guys?"

Rogers squawked a war cry before a powerful flap of his wings covered Xavier in sand. Xavier emerged from his sandy confinement with a burst of psychic power, only for Koopa to blast him with a Water Gun to his face.

"Guys?! We _NEED_ to go, like **NOW**!"

_'Take that! Hiyah!'_

"**GUYS**!"

'**_WHAT_**?!' My scream finally got their attention as Xavier sent an annoyed glare my way.

"Get moving before you become dwebble and crustle food!" I pointed at the amazingly large colony of said crustaceans, who are now snapping their claws furiously and is swarming over to us right now.

_'Oh holy mother of Arceus._' Xavier cursed as the six of us flee as fast as we could with sounds of claws snapping angrily trailing after us. '_Why didn't you say so earlier?!_'

"**I DID**!"

* * *

"**_HEEEEEEELLLLPPPPPP_**! I'M GONNA DIE!"

_'Hang in there, Shannon! We are coming!'_

'_How did this happen again_?' Xavier remarked as they ran after their airheaded and clumsy trainer. Why is she always getting herself kidnapped by wild pokemon?! This is the **_fifth_** time this week! There was the instance when a group of simipours whisked her away from the pond they are living at just **_yesterday_**, then just **_two days ago_** a whole nest of scolipedes decided that she makes a great snack and tried to ship her off to who-knows-where, and the day before that-

'_I don't know! She was just sitting on my back! That's all_!' Bambi said in a distressed tone, carrying him and Lancelot on her back since it is faster this way. Rogers is flying ahead, trying to catch up to the mandibuzz who currently has Shannon in its talons. Their trainer isn't bird feed damn it!

_'More running, less talking!'_

_'Shut up, Koopa. Bambi, we need to get closer for me to use Teleport! We are still out of range!'_

'_What else do you think I am currently doing? Taking an evening stroll?_' Bambi shot back. '_Shut your mouth and let me concentrate on my running!'_

_'Maybe you should learn how to improve your proficiency in Teleport._' Lancelot's comment earned him a cuff on the back of his head, courtesy of Xavier himself, of course. The smart aleck needs to stop acting like he knows it all.

_'My species specialises in telepathic powers, not psychic movements, Mr suck-up-to-Shannon.'_

_'Shannon loves me the most and you all know it. You are just jealous.'_

_'Whatever you say, baby.'_

Rogers had finally caught up to the mandibuzz who had swooped down from nowhere and kidnapped their trainer, but every attempt from Rogers to rescue Shannon was thwarted by mandibuzz putting their trainer in harm's way, forcing Rogers to back off. Shannon is just busy screaming her lungs out at this point, her mind too overtaken by fear to do anything else. Her fear of heights had made her freaked out even more, which isn't helping things too.

_'We need to get Shannon out of there before the mandibuzz reaches its nest! I sure as hell don't want to deal with a flock of these barbarians!'_

_'I think we are close enough. Squawks! Prepare to catch her!'_

_'MY. NAME. IS. **ROGERS**! Not SQUAWKS!'_

'_Like I care. All of you avian are stupid creatures_. _I will call you however I like it_.' Xavier grumbled as he tapped into his psychic powers. Shannon might not like this, but he really doesn't have a choice right now. None of them are exactly trained for combat and this is the best plan he has in mind.

In a crackle of psychic energy, Xavier teleported himself just a few meters away from the mandibuzz. He did a mental click of his tongue, seems like his skill in Teleport is still a little lacking. He was aiming to teleport himself onto mandibuzz's back.

Well, there is always Plan B.

With a prompt use of Ally Switch, Xavier switched his position with Shannon. The mandibuzz squawked in surprise in finding a beheeyem in its claws instead of a human. Shannon, on the other hand, is now screaming herself hoarse at finding herself high up in the air and falling towards the ground. Rogers immediately changed direction and dived after her.

Xavier mentally noted that he really hates all the squawking that these avian like to do. The squawking really gets on his nerves.

"**_EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK_**!"

Xavier ignored the terrified screams of his trainer and focused on the mandibuzz instead. They may bicker a lot, but Xavier have full trust in Rogers to catch their trainer before she ended up on the ground as a pool of bloodied human paste. He needs to focus on taking out the mandibuzz before it decides to come back for more.

Xavier cannot help but feel smug when he quickly removed mandibuzz's immunity to psychic type attacks with Miracle Eye before shooting a Psybeam at it, causing it to crash into a tree with an audible boom. Mandibuzz was forced to let him go and Xavier free fall towards the ground. He slowed his descent with his psychic powers, allowing him to reach the ground safely.

_'My turn!'_

Bambi jumped into the air with a powerful leap with Lancelot riding on her back.

_'Lancelot!'_

_'Leave it to me!'_

Lancelot jumped off Bambi's back, reaching mandibuzz in an instant. A screech from mandibuzz told Xavier that the little smart aleck had managed to hurt the mandibuzz with its sharp blades.

Serves the stupid squawking bird right. That's what it gets for kidnapping their trainer.

A pressurised jet of water from Koopa sent the mandibuzz spiralling in the air before it managed to right itself. The mandibuzz quickly made its escape, all the fight in it had been lost the moment it found itself on the receiving end of the team's fury.

_'Yeah, go on! Run away with your tail between your legs! Come back here again, I dare you! I will slice you to itty-bitty pieces!'_

'_Lancelot, mandibuzz is already gone. It can't hear you_.' Bambi helpfully reminded the young pawniard as it waved its bladed arms in the air in what he thinks is a menacing gesture. Truthfully, he looks plain stupid doing it.

_'You ok?'_

Xavier asked his clumsy yet smart trainer. His trainer never fails to impress him with how much she can seemingly absorb and learn, but she really needs to stop getting herself kidnapped by random wild pokemon.

"I'm… _huff_…_huff_… fine." She panted as she leaned against Rogers for support. "What about you guys?"

'_As fine as we can be._' Lancelot quipped as he finally walked back to where they are.

'_You know she cannot understand you_.' Xavier took this as an opportunity to show the smart aleck just how far beneath he is as compared to him when it comes to intellect. '_Only I can talk to Shannon.'_

_'It is the thought that counts.'_

'_Seriously, you need to stop getting yourself into these kinds of situations, Shannon._' Xavier began to rant to his trainer in the open telepathic channel he shares with the team. The team is able to hear their conversation, but they cannot add their own thoughts and Shannon is unable to hear them. His proficiency in this field hasn't gotten to that point yet. '_We cannot possibly be there to save you every single time.'_

"It was not on purpose! I swear! I was just minding my own business!"

_'I can vouch for that.'_

_'Shut up, Bambi. Let me do the talking.'_

"I was just sifting through the data we just acquired from observing the Stoutland pack and then I heard a swoosh and then next thing I know I'm being carried into the air and then-"

Xavier did his best impression of a facepalm, not that he has a proper palm to begin with, but he really wishes that he has one right now so that he can do a proper facepalm.

_'Shannon?'_

"My mind then went blank and then the only thing I can think of was _OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD_ I'm FLYING and what if I drop and there goes my life and I die at the ripe old age of sweet sixteen and Jesus Christ what will Uncle and Aurea say when they know about it the entire town will laugh at me-"

_'Shannon.'_

"And **_AHHHH_**! What about the tablet I was holding right before the mandibuzz got me? All the research data were saved into it!"

'_It's with Koopa. Here_.' Xavier grabbed the tablet Koopa had picked up and used it to bonk his motormouth trainer on the head, finally shutting her up. Seriously, who is the trainer here? And didn't she lived a lifetime before coming into this world? She died as an _adult_ in her previous life, right? Why does it feel like it is always him doing the caretaking? His trainer will die in less than a week without him around to keep an eye on her clumsy and trouble prone self, no doubt about that. How did she even survive before she met him?

"_My tablet_!" Shannon wailed before grabbing it and holding it close to her chest. "I'm sorry! I'm never letting you go again!"

'_Never a dull day with her around_.' Rogers rolled his eyes as he scratched at the ground with his sharp talons.

'_Indeed_.'

They eventually managed to pacify their agitated trainer, who is still reeling in from the shock from her unexpected aerial flight. Yes, they bicker a lot. Yes, she always got herself into trouble in that one short moment that they have their eyes turned away from her, but she is still their trainer. She is the clumsy, smart, lovable trainer that they all love and care for. The genius researcher.

And as her pokemon, it is up to them to ensure she gets out of the troubles she found herself in unscathed. Right?

* * *

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 16, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1) ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2) ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3) ****Pawniard (Lancelot), male**

**4) ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5) ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**


	3. Chapter 3- Foreboding

_'Calm down, take a deep breath, that's it. Follow after me, in, out, in, out…'_

"In, out, in, out..."

Xavier watched on as his trainer followed his advice and took deep breaths that are evenly spaced out. Arceus above, why is he doing this?!

_'Right, remember, you got this. You are Shannon Juniper, researcher extraordinaire. You are going to go up there, dazzle the crowd with your bookish knowledge about migratory patterns, biology, and whatnot, and you are not going to stutter. You are not going to screw up. You are going to do just fine.'_

"I am Shannon Juniper, I am going to go up there, wow everyone with my research. I am going to do just fine."

_'That's the spirit! Can you do this?'_

.

.

.

"I CANNOT DO THIS!" Shannon wailed as she hid her face with her hands and Xavier sighed. Don't get him wrong, he loves his trainer no matter how much of an airhead she is. She is many things, a brilliant researcher, a loving trainer, a clumsy idiot, just to list a few.

Unfortunately, having immense fear of speaking in front of a large crowd is part of her personality too.

_'Wow, I've never seen her in such a panic before.'_

_'Not helping, Lancelot.'_

"Shannon! It will be your- Shannon? Are you alright?"

Thank the legendaries that Aurea is here to save the day.

"Aurea! I don't wanna go up!" Shannon wailed as she clutched onto her older cousin as if she is her lifeline.

"But Shannon! Isn't it your dream to present your research in the Unova Researchers Summit? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"I-I know! B-B-B-But!"

"No buts." Aurea said firmly and held a finger in front of Shannon's face. "Have more confidence in yourself, Shannon. You are doing great! Your research has merit! _Everything will be fine_."

"Nothing's fine!"

"Fifteen more minutes, Shannon. Then it will be your turn. I suggest you mentally prepare yourself for it. Relax, you had rehearsed the presentation so many times that you could do it in your sleep by now. Just treat it as another one of those mock presentations."

"But so many famous figures will be there! What if I-"

"_You will do just fine_." Aurea reiterated once more. "You can do it, Shannon. Have faith in yourself."

Shannon did an audible gulp.

"Listen Shannon, I need to go. I still need to check that everything at the backstage is running smoothly. Don't worry, ok? You have been preparing for this day for two years. Dad and I will be rooting for you. You will do great."

"A-Aurea!"

"Press on, Shannon! You can do this!" Aurea cheered Shannon on before the door to the dressing room that they are in closed with a click.

Shannon let out a whimper before squatting down and bury her face into her hands. Xavier patted her on the back comfortingly, trying to ease her nerves.

_'You need me to do some wonky things to your brain with my psychic powers to calm you down? Not the best option, but if it helps…'_

"It's fine." She mumbled. "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this…."

'_You can do this_.' Xavier nodded his head. '_You are Shannon Juniper, researcher extraordinaire._'

Lancelot gave his grunt of approval. It took him close to two years because he isn't trained for combat, but the little insufferable pawniard had just evolved into a bisharp about two weeks ago, which makes him a larger insufferable bisharp now.

_'We will be at the side of the stage cheering you on. Or if you want, we can go up the stage with you.'_

"No, I… I can do this." Shannon looked up and Xavier mentally heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the figurative fire in her eyes. "I have been working hard for this day."

_'You can do this, Shannon. We believe in you.'_

* * *

_'Oh no, she's having the jitters.'_

Lancelot's right. Shannon's palms are sweating profusely. Her fingers are either nervously playing with the ends of her sleeves or incessantly adjusting her glasses. The steps she took as she walked up to the stage are small, as if trying to delay the inevitable.

'_Go Shannon! Show them who's boss_!' Lancelot yelled out as he waved his metal arms in the air wildly from where they are hiding out of view at the side of the stage.

_'Be quiet. The crowd's looking at you.'_

_'So? Let them look all they want.'_

_'Shannon is supposed to be the centre of attention, not you.'_

The crowd hushed the moment Shannon walked up to the speaker podium. The lights at the audiences dimmed and refocused on their trainer, who admittedly put on a good poker face. It still doesn't fool him and Lancelot. They can still see her legs shaking nervously from where they are, a view that the audience cannot see thanks to the podium blocking their line of sight. Shannon is literally quaking in her boots.

_'You will do just fine.'_

Xavier's mental message to Shannon seemed to snap her out of her funk just as the crowd went silent. Her trainer sent them a sideway glance, just in time to see Lancelot waving his arms wildly in support and him giving her his best impression of a thumbs up.

She took a deep breath, and it was from this moment that Xavier knew that everything will turn out alright.

"G-Good afternoon everyone. I am Shannon Juniper, and today I am going to present my research on 'How Unova's climate change affect its local pokemon's migratory patterns'…"

Everything will be just fine.

* * *

"I did it!" Shannon bounced excitedly the moment she got off the stage and whispered to them excitedly. "I did it!"

_'Of course you did. We told you, didn't we? You are doing great. Didn't you hear the applause? The biggest one we heard so far!'_

"We did it!" Shannon nearly yelled out but quickly quietened down when she realised that the audiences could probably still hear her from where they are. They quickly turned around the corridor at the backstage and Shannon engulfed the both of them in a hug.

"We did it! We did it! We did it!"

_'Yes, yes, you did it. We know.'_

They couldn't be any prouder of their trainer. They know how much this research means to her due to how her parents passed away. Humans in Unova had always been proficient in controlling the weather, but they often neglected what their actions entails on the wild pokemon living in the region. Humans don't give much thought about it since it doesn't affect them directly. It is one reason why the migratory patterns of Unova's wild pokemon tend to be so erratic. Their trainer had spotted this problem. Somehow, she is the only one who had spotted it and foresaw conflicts that might possibly erupt between the wild pokemon population and humans, backed up with solid, conclusive evidences that she and their team had taken two long years to consolidate. Shannon's view on human actions affecting migratory patterns on pokemon and what it means to the region is something that somehow eluded the most brilliant of minds living in Unova. Not only that, Shannon came up with solutions to the problems she foresaw. Solutions that is actually more than idealistic words on paper.

"**WE** did it." Shannon emphasised as she hugged them closer to her. "Couldn't have done this without the help from you guys."

_'You mean the fact that we have to continuously prevent you from turning into pokemon food? How many times have we rescued you from kidnappings conducted by wild pokemon again?'_

"Hey!"

When Shannon finally managed to calm herself down, they proceed to sneak their way into the audience seat to watch the following presentations. Some of the audiences who spotted her gave her approving nods as she passed or whispered their congratulations on a job well done. Shannon's face turned redder than a volcarona on fire, but she managed to return the gesture without stuttering.

"Good job, Shannon!" Aurea and Cedric all hugged her excitedly when they finally made their way to the seat her family had reserved for her. "You did great!"

The rest of the Summit proceeded as per normal and Xavier can finally take a break when his trainer got herself lost listening to the various presentations. He doesn't really understand much of what the other human researchers are presenting about, but if it got his trainer's attention, then it should be good.

"It's finally over." Shannon sighed as she packed up her belongings and walked out of the building where the Summit was held. The sun is setting, painting the sky in a warm orange hue.

"Aurea and I still have some networking to do. I'm afraid that you will have to head back to the lab on your own, Shannon. Or maybe you would like to come with us?"

"It's okay!" Their trainer quickly waved it off, obviously afraid at the idea of meeting strangers. "I will get back to analyse the fossil you sent me!"

"Ah, that." Cedric stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder what pokemon that could be?"

"Well, in any case, we need to be going if we don't want to be late." Aurea said as she hugged Shannon before they went their separate ways. "Good job on your presentation today, Shannon. We are proud of you."

"Thanks, Aurea, Uncle."

"Don't mention it. Have a safe trip back!"

Shannon's good mood can be easily picked up by how she hums a happy tune under her breath and walk with a skip in her steps. The entire team strolled along beside her, happy for her sake.

_'I take it that it went well?'_

_'More than well, Bambi. It was awesome.'_

"… humans and pokemon are partners who had come to live together because we need each other, but is that the truth? What if that is the 'truth' that we wanted to assume?"

'_Oh, it is those loonies again_.' Rogers commented as they passed by the town's square and spotted someone giving a speech to a crowd gathered below. '_What do they call themselves again_?'

_'Team Plasma, I believe.'_

"… and what do we humans do to them? Push them to do our selfish demands! Can we truly call our relationship with them a partnership if that is the case?"

'_The true loonies are the ones who actually believe what they are being told_.' Koopa added her opinion while shooting a look of disdain at the onlookers. Shannon merely gave the crowd a passing glance and continue to be on her way. She may be an airhead at times, but she at least has common sense in spades unlike the gathering crowd there.

"That's right! We must liberate all pokemon! Only then can humans and pokemon can truly be equal to each other! Today, right here, I implore you! Consider the relationship between humans and pokemon and the correct way to proceed!"

To their collective disbelief, there are actually people who began to release their pokemon after the speech, just like what the speaker had said.

_'What? For real? Don't they stop for a moment and think what their pokemon really wanted? Why do they just assume that liberation is necessarily good for us?'_

_'Didn't Shannon always tell us that stupidity is infinite and cannot be measured? Why do you guys look so surprised?'_

"Miss! We are Team Plasma! We just need a moment of your time!"

"Sorry, but I am kind of in a rush." Shannon politely declined the two people dressed in a weird attire that is approaching her and hastened her footsteps. The team sensed her unease and start to spread themselves out to surround her protectively.

"It won't take long! Just a moment!"

"Sorry! But I need to go!"

"You heard the speech, didn't you? Pokemon and humans are equals, we shouldn't restrain them with pokeballs." The group of two didn't give up and hurried their pace to match Shannon's, who is starting to visibly freak out.

_'Oh great, someone doesn't know how to take 'no' for an answer._' Rogers rolled his eyes and squawked loudly at one of the men to get him to keep his distance from their trainer, but he seemed undeterred.

'_You can say that again_.' Bambi muttered as she stamped her hooves, but the goons just don't get their message.

"Hey, another one." A few people from the crowd earlier had now caught up to them and surrounded them. Shannon looked visibly afraid at the sudden increase of people around her and the team immediately growled out a warning.

_'Oi, last warning, back off.'_

_'They cannot understand you, Lancelot.'_

"W-What do you guys want?" Shannon stuttered out, her hands instinctively pulled close to her chest due to her growing fear of the gathering strangers.

"**Liberate all pokemon**!"

They don't know who started it, but at the next instance, the team found themselves swarmed by a huge crowd of people who are aiming to get their hands on their trainer. Or more specifically, her pokeballs that binds themselves to her.

"Ahh! Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

That was the last straw.

Koopa immediately reacted by washing a group of them away with a Hydro Pump. Xavier himself is already flinging those annoying humans away from them with his psychic powers. Bambi is knocking some of them away with her horns while Rogers pecked at the humans, forcing them to keep their distance from their trainer. Lancelot stood by Shannon, sharpening his blades in a threatening manner, warning the group of humans to keep their distance.

"G-Guys! D-Don't hurt them!"

Their trainer is too kind for her own good.

_'More of them! We need to get out of here asap!'_

The team turned to where Bambi had gestured to. True to her words, there are more of these stupid humans running their way. If it wasn't for the fact that they knew Shannon hates seeing blood, they might have just chosen the easy way out and start killing some of these foolish humans left and right.

"Get her pokeballs! Liberate all pokemon!"

"Let us go! Don't come any closer!"

And then it happened.

A large burst of psychic energy burst out from the nearby trees. Groups of wild pokemon suddenly appeared and Xavier can recognise each of their kind on sight. The munna line, the sigilyph line, the gothita line, the solosis line, and even some of his kind. Each of them is buzzing with tremendous amount of psychic power and are starting to form a defensive line in front of their trainer.

As a fellow psychic, he knows just how soothing his trainer's presence is to another psychic. His trainer is like a beacon to any psychic pokemon, you can't help but to seek it out instinctually. It is one reason why she always finds it easier to work with psychic types, even if he had never told her the reason for it before and she never questioned her good luck.

His trainer is so ordinary, but also yet so special.

The group of Team Plasma hooligans all stopped their rioting the moment an angry horde of psychics stood in their way. Shannon herself is confused. Xavier can feel her confusion from the telepathic connection they shared.

'_Don't worry. They are on our side_.' He reassured her to soothe her distraught nerves.

A powerful looking wild gothitelle sent out another wave of Psychic that got the hooligans running away in fright, allowing Shannon and the team to heave a sigh of relief.

"T-Thank you." Shannon thanked the group of wild psychics over and over again. "I-If there's anything I can do to help you guys in the future-"

'_There's no need to thank us, Favoured One_.' The wild gothitelle and the obvious leader of the group talked to Shannon telepathically in a public channel for all to hear, something very rarely seen among their kind. Psychics are very exclusive creatures. You need to be close to them for them to even consider establishing a telepathic connection with you. For a wild psychic type to do so with a human they just met? That is unheard of.

_'As long as your heart remains true, you will always find an ally in us psychics. A trying time is ahead, Favoured One, or should I say, The Mind's Eye?'_

"The… Mind's Eye?" Shannon asked perplexedly and Xavier has the same question bouncing in his head. He is young for a psychic and is not overly powerful or strong. He is just average, and is not trained to reach a high level of strength. He is a companion pokemon, not a battler. There are many things that he is not yet able to see or hear because he doesn't possess the required mental strength, unlike this gothitelle.

_'Alas, I'm afraid that I've divulged too much. The threads of fate are a complicated thing, Mind's Eye, and your threads are not allowed to be frayed just yet. You who have been displaced and reborn from the cycle of death is destined to do great things in this world. I am not allowed to interfere in issues that were set in place by beings far supreme that I am, so I cannot speak any further_.'

"Wait. _What_? You know about my… status?"

_'Your aura shines so bright to us that it might as well be a beacon_.' Gothitelle's words got the wild psychics to nod their heads in agreement. '_Don't worry, your secrets will be safe with us. Have a safe trip, Mind's Eye, and do prepare yourself for what is to come. Your role may not be big, but it is by no means unimportant to the world. We will be keeping an eye on you. Call on us if you ever need our aid and we shall provide it._'

"W-Wait!"

The wild psychics disappeared in a flash of blue in the next second, leaving Shannon and the team alone at where they stand.

"X-Xavier? What was that?"

_'I am not privy to such information even within the realms of psychics, I'm afraid_.' Xavier admitted. _'But the gothitelle is not wrong, you are special to us psychics.'_

For the rest of the trip back home, Shannon didn't speak another word.

* * *

**AN: In case it wasn't enough or you had missed it, there was a timeskip of two years.**

**Hope you enjoyed the story thus far.**

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1) ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2) ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3) ****Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4) ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5) ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**


	4. Chapter 4- Of Genes and Fossils

As a researcher who specialises in both Pokemon Biology and Pokemon Migratory Behaviour, I often come into contact with a huge scientific blackhole of the researcher community: Pokemon Evolution.

What _exactly _is Pokemon Evolution?

On one hand, 'evolution' refers to the process when a pokemon accumulated enough power to undergo spontaneous and permanent transformation that affected their bodies, making them stronger, faster, smarter, and overall better than their pre-evolved form. On the other hand, 'evolution' also refers to how the many diverse modern day pokemon species came about. There are prevalent theories like how many dragon types today are all descendants of the tyrantrum species because different parts of tyrantrum's DNA sequence are found in the DNA of many dragon types today. For the same reason, it is also a popular opinion that many pokemon that are not dragon types, but share certain draconian characteristics are also descendants of the rock-dragon dual typing prehistoric pokemon. Like the charizard and the tyranitar species, for example.

So how did pokemon even come about? Who is the original pokemon that gave birth to so many other pokemon?

If we refer to the various pokemon myths and legends that are still circulating around today, Arceus is akin to the God of this universe because it was the one who created it. Arceus then created the rulers of space and time. I heard that it might have also created a third one, but I wasn't really sure about that since researching myths and legends is not my area of expertise. I only know that from there, Arceus also created the Lake Guardians of Sinnoh, said to have the power to contain and control Dialgia and Palkia.

So assuming that is true, what happens from there? How did the existence of the creation of these few pokemon give birth to the numerous pokemon species that we know today?

There's another myth from Kanto, saying that while Arceus is the creator of the universe, Mew is the true ancestor of all pokemon, including many legendaries that are still roaming the world or currently in a deep slumber. The few ancient records of the mythical pokemon that were let known to the public heavily implied that Mew has the genetic composition of all pokemon. Not only that, it is said to be able to use any and every pokemon move in existence.

Scientifically speaking, the pokemon that would most likely be the closest to Mew in genetic makeup would be ditto since it has the ability to freely recombine its cellular structure to transform itself into another lifeform. Its signature move is Transform, a move that only its species is known to be able to use if we discount smeargle's ability to copy it with Sketch.

Mew is also said to have the ability to disguise itself and physically transform into any pokemon it sees, which is the reason why it is so hard to even spot it. That description alone sounds a lot like the move, Transform. In that case, if both ditto and Mew are the only two known pokemon able to use Transform, and both have unique genetic makeup that allows them to be 'universal', what is the connection between the two?

Could they be the key to solving the mystery of Pokemon Evolution?

The ditto species is a very peculiar species. It is genderless, so no one really knows how it procreates. They are known to have the ability to help _other _pokemon species procreate by transforming into the other sex of the species even if nobody had ever managed to physically saw or recorded the entire process before. However, the offspring of a ditto and whatever pokemon that it mated with would always come out healthy and normal, and that offspring would never turn out to be a ditto. This particular aspect of ditto, being able to mate with any other pokemon with an identifiable sex, is what supports the theory of it having a genetic makeup so unique that it somehow encompasses every single DNA composition of every pokemon in the world.

Sounds a lot like Mew, right?

Scientists have long since _heavily suspected_ that ditto reproduce through mitosis, which is further backed by the fact that if we put a ditto that is way larger than the average size in isolation, somehow or another, one ditto would somehow turn into two over time, and the combined mass of the two would be exactly the same as the original big ditto. As with the case with every other attempt to see just **_how _**pokemon actually procreated, nobody had ever seen or recorded how a ditto reproduce itself. Not even the most experienced of pokemon breeders had managed to even catch a glimpse of it. Regardless of species, pokemon do not breed if they know they are being watched and we never knew the reason why. All we know about the ditto species is that once it grows beyond a specific mass and size, it will find a way to split itself into two to cut itself back down to normal.

Hence, even though it is very obvious to us that ditto's method of reproduction _has _to be mitosis, we cannot _claim _for certain that it is mitosis because nobody had ever saw or recorded that process. That's why the only scientific terminology that we can use is '_heavily suspected_'.

Because of all of the above observations and scientific knowledge that we gained about the ditto species, and considering whatever little the scientific community knows about the elusive and mythical Mew, it is a popular opinion that ditto may hold the key to solving the mysteries of Pokemon Evolution. Not just the aspect in which a pokemon suddenly gained a permanent transformation, but also in the other aspect in which how a new pokemon species is born from another over thousands of years.

Dittos are miracle wonders in the medical field of pokemon. For the simple fact that ditto cells are extremely adaptive and is able to transform itself to match the genetic makeup of any other pokemon, pokemon doctors worldwide had long since harnessed the technology to safely extract and implant ditto cells into the wounds of injured pokemon, and then programmed the implanted ditto cells to heal the injured pokemon back to perfect health. Your pokemon suffered such a severe injury that it now has missing organs? Or maybe missing limbs? Some of them might really be incurable, but there are instances that implanted ditto cells actually managed to successfully heal such life threatening injuries in certain pokemon.

I, however, have a different theory, although there's no way that I can test it unless I somehow managed to get myself a sample of Mew DNA.

What if ditto is a direct descendant of Mew?

I mean, _it makes sense_, doesn't it? Why else would ditto have such similar genetic makeup that is so similar to what is said about Mew, if the myths about it are to be believed?

But enough of all the scientific ramblings of the ditto species. First, I have to get myself a ditto. Why, you ask?

My uncle had given me an unknown pokemon fossil to analyse. I am now extremely certain that whatever pokemon species this fossil represents, it is not a species of pokemon yet known to man. Meaning to say?

_WE JUST DISCOVERED A WHOLE NEW SPECIES OF POKEMON!_

Reviving prehistoric pokemon from fossils is a relatively recent technology which is first being developed by a Kanto scientist in Cinnabar about ten years ago, although its application was only made available to the public about five years ago. The initial technology was imperfect as the revived specimen in the form of an omanyte died about two weeks after its rebirth. It was only after the collaboration of many brilliant minds worldwide to come together and perfect this Fossil Revival Technology did it finally become successful.

Even then, the process of reviving a prehistoric pokemon through fossils is an extremely complex and painstaking process. I understand how it is being done, but that doesn't mean that it is easy. As with many other known types of fossils, the DNA found in fossils are often damaged or incomplete. I had firsthand experience with that when I was rearranging Koopa's DNA when she was still a fossil before sending her in to be revived. The entire process of fixing and completing missing or damaged DNA is so complex that it cannot be described with mere words alone.

And then you might ask, if the DNA of prehistoric pokemon found in fossils are often damaged or have missing parts, how do we revive prehistoric pokemon from fossils in the first place?

You got it,_ ditto cells_.

Ditto cells have the ability to instinctively latch onto any damaged parts of any pokemon's DNA, scan it, and then perfectly replicate or fill in the missing parts, sometimes even repairing it. In the case of this mysterious fossil that somehow found its way to my uncle and subsequently, me, using ditto cells is the only way if we are ever going to revive it because to first revive a fossil, you need to first piece together and complete the entire genetic makeup. Kind of like completing a jigsaw puzzle.

"Marvelous!" My uncle cannot help but exclaim when I showed him the DNA sequence of the fossil pokemon which I had pieced out so far. It's not yet complete due to certain parts of it being damaged or missing, but that can be easily fixed when we get our hands on several dittos.

"Wonderful job, Shannon! I know you can do it!" My uncle gave me several pats on the back in excitement as I blushed a little under the praise. "The genetic makeup of this fossil is so complex that it stumped even me, but **_you _**did it!"

"I-I-It was nothing!" I cannot help but squeak out when my timid self comes out once more.

"It is _something!_" My loving uncle corrected me. "Something _great!_ Look at this!"

My uncle pointed at the computerised image of the DNA makeup that I had successfully managed to piece together that actually made _sense_. Trying to figure out the genetic makeup of the pokemon species of this particular fossil was a particularly hard case because not only is it incredibly complex, the fossil itself is a lot more damaged than the ones we usually find. Unfortunately, this fossil is one of a kind. Nobody had managed to find another fossil of the same pokemon species so we cannot do any comparisons to figure out the exact DNA composition through that method. The only way to do so is to somehow figure it out through sheer intellect and brainpower.

"A bug type, it _definitely _has to be a bug type." My uncle vibrated excitedly on the spot as he observed the DNA composition of this new species of pokemon with a look of wonder. "Maybe it is somehow related to the armaldo species?"

"Perhaps." I scratched my chin in thought. "There's no way to tell for certain until we get our hands on some ditto cells and use it to complete the DNA jigsaw puzzle."

"I will send in a request to the League for some dittos ASAP." My uncle nodded as he started to pace about in excitement. "They will surely agree to it. A _new _species of pokemon, Shannon! An entirely new species of prehistoric pokemon rediscovered by you! What are you going to name it?"

"H-Huh?" I nearly choked on air at my uncle's statement. "N-Name it?!"

"Well, you were the only one to successfully figure out and piece together almost the entire DNA sequence of this pokemon, and all by yourself too! Many researchers and scientists before you had tried and failed, why else do you think that this fossil ended up with me? It is because I'm supposedly the expert in Pokemon Biology and everyone expected me to solve this mystery! Yet even I failed to do what you did! You _succeeded_, Shannon!"

"R-Right." I let out an awkward laugh when the entirety of the situation was made known to me. I wasn't aware that I had succeeded in something in which many pokemon researchers and scientists worldwide had failed. The only reason why I volunteered to help my uncle in analysing this fossil was because trying to solve the mystery of the true picture of its DNA sequence was an extremely fun thing to do, albeit a little tiring.

Next time, I should really get the full picture of the backstory of any research that I took over from my uncle's hands.

"Shannon? What are you going to name this pokemon?"

Upon my uncle's encouraging look, I tried to think of a name for this newly discovered species of pokemon.

"U-Um… DNA? Deoxyribonucleic acid? Helix? Thymine? Cytosine? Adenine? Guanine? Uh…"

"Why are you naming all the components and structure of the DNA?"

"Because I spent so much time staring at it!" I wailed out childishly. I blame the lack of sleep for the past 20 hours to be the cause of it. "I'm sure my myopic vision worsened just from attempting this project! I don't care! The name of this guy **_must _**be related to DNA!"

My hollering had somehow woke up Xavier, who was snoozing quietly at a corner all along.

_'Shannon, can you keep it down a little? There are some of us here who actually need some sleep, unlike you.'_

"I'm trying to think of a name for this new guy!"

Xavier took a brief look at the picture of the DNA sequence on the computer screen.

_'What's that thing called again? A… gene? Did I get my facts right?'_

"Technically, it's DNA, not gene." I huffed as I put my hands on my hips. My uncle had gone back to staring at the soon-to-be-complete DNA sequence in childish wonder. "Genes are made up of DNA, and this particular one belongs to a bug type, that much we know now."

_'So this image is the gene of an accursed **insect**, I see.' _Xavier lamented. '_Why can't it be a psychic as cool as me?'_

I rolled my eyes at Xavier's remark, although what he said struck a chord within me.

_Genes of an insect…_

"Genesect."

"Huh?" My uncle turned around to look at me at my sudden declaration. I faced him proudly as I spread my arms wide while making my declaration.

"I've decided! I'm naming this species of pokemon Genesect!"

**_'You _**_named it? **I **was the one that gave you the **inspiration-'**_

"Koopa."

There was the sound of a flipper smacking Xavier on the head from somewhere behind me.

_'This is pokemon abuse! I demand justice to be- OW! KOOPA! Stop it!'_

"Genesect, huh?" My uncle mused as he crossed his arms in thought, a smile on his face and not privy to Xavier's nonsensical ramblings through the telepathic link I shared with my starter. "That sounds like a good name."

"I think it is an apt description too." I let out an uncontrollable yawn as I said so, the effects of the lack of sleep finally kicking in. "The genes of an insect. This is what it is right now."

"I don't know about you, Shannon, but I cannot wait to see Genesect revived."

I cannot help but smile at his words.

"Me too, uncle. Me too."

* * *

**AN: So recently I was invited by RoyalPercival to his discord server which serves as a platform for writers, both on fanfiction or original writers. I've only been a member for a few days but it is a fun place to be in if you genuinely just want to be there and chat with other writers, exchange ideas, ask around for betas and ideas, or just chill and have fun. If any of you are also fellow writers as well and would like a platform to interact with other writers, I recommend trying RoyalPercival's discord server out. I'll be there as well when I'm not busy trying to churn chapters out so if you guys want to talk to me but hate ffnet's pm function, discord is where you can find me as well. **

**Link as below:**

**discord . g g / V54pcwA (remove the spaces)**

**Hope to see you there!**

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper, Specialise in Pokemon Biology and Pokemon Migratory Behaviour**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2\. ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3\. ****Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4\. ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5\. ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**


	5. Chapter 5- Excavation

Since the fossil that I was analysing belongs to an entirely new species of pokemon, the Unova League had deemed it important enough to do the fossil revival themselves at their HQ. So, as per the League's orders, uncle and I handed the fossil over to the League's representatives who came here personally to take genesect's fossil from our hands. The revival process for this pokemon is a lot more delicate than the usual fossil simply because this fossil is one of a kind, so the entire process might take a while.

The reviving of genesect will be left to the experts, so there's nothing much else for me to do about this issue on my end. With genesect's fossil finally off our hands, I had thought that I could finally take a break and relax, until I turned on the TV and saw what's on the news which got me extremely _livid_.

"Team Plasma _cannot _be allowed to continue to release pokemon like that, uncle." I emphasised. "Look at what is happening across the region from all the improper release of pokemon! Increase in accidents due to pokemon human conflict! Disturbing the ecosystem of the area! That's not even talking about-"

"I understand, Shannon." My uncle placated me as best as he could. "But we are just researchers, not trainers. I had already brought up your concerns to the League and even Alder had noted it. He is already doing something about the problem."

"Then he's not doing **enough!**" I'm near tearing my hair out at this point. "Look at what happened in Mistralton City! _An airplane crashed!_ Because someone thought that it would be a **_good idea_** to release a **_druddigon _**there!"

"Hey, Shannon, calm down." Aurea said gently as she pulled me close before I went into a hysterical fit. "I know it's not easy to forget about your parents and how they left us, but you need to calm down."

"_Airplane crashed,_ Aurea." I breathed heavily as I tried to not lose my temper again. "All because of us humans meddling with mother nature, thinking that we always know what is best. The last time, it affected the migratory patterns of unfezants that led to the crashing of the airplane my parents were on. This time, improper release of a druddigon led to the confused dragon shooting down the first thing it saw flying in the sky."

Aurea said nothing as she gently led me to sit on the couch with her and rubbed soothing circles on my back.

"Team Plasma needs to _stop _encouraging people to release their pokemon. Releasing pokemon is fine, but releasing them whenever they want and wherever they want is _not _fine. This will disturb the ecosystem and if the pokemon had been living in captivity all their lives, they would not be able to easily adapt themselves to the wild. _A lot_ of things can happen from there."

"The Rangers had made it very clear that if people have pokemon to release, they will have to give their pokemon to them so that the Rangers can release them back into the wild properly." Uncle offered. "But you know how it is. No one's listening. Either they are too lazy to find the nearest Ranger camp to their house, or they couldn't be bothered to."

"Team Plasma is like a religious cult at this point." I dragged a palm across my face in exasperation. "Nobody ever stopped to question the legitimacy of their statements. And _Seven Sages?_ Who appointed them in the first place? Themselves?"

The Seven Sages is a well-known bedtime story throughout Unova. Every kid who grew up in the region would have heard about it from their parents before they go to bed. The premise of the story is simple. It talks about a time so long ago when the world was in turmoil, seven people stood up to help defend the world and bring peace to the lands. These people would later be known as the Seven Sages.

There are people who claim this to be nothing but a fictitious story, but there are also an equal number of Unovans who believed it to be true even till today. Team Plasma used this story to back the legitimacy of their deeds, having gathered seven highly intelligent people from all around the world to fill the role of the Seven Sages and serve as their spiritual leaders. Using the story as a backing and reasserting that the story is true, they self-proclaimed themselves as the next coming of the Seven Sages, the saviours of the world. The way that they are going about doing the saving is by liberating all pokemon.

Team Plasma have as many dissenters just as there are as many supporters. I don't know how true the story of the Seven Sages is but personally, I feel that Team Plasma is a problem about to explode in everyone's faces.

They are already creating problems for Unova.

"The Rangers are already putting up posters and going around spreading the message about the effects of improper release of pokemon." Uncle Cedric said gently. "We need to have faith in them."

"It's not that I don't have faith in the Rangers, I don't have any faith in _Team Plasma_. Not after all the stupid acts that they encouraged the public to do." I sighed. "What do they even get out of getting people to release their pokemon?"

"They claim to be the saviours of the world." Aurea shrugged. "By liberating all pokemon."

"A whole lot of crap. Humans need pokemon as much as they need us. Our lives are already too intricately entwined for us to not depend on each other."

"That's what we are here for, right? As researchers, it is up to us to convince the people about the facts we discovered about pokemon." Uncle tried to cheer me up as he handed me a mug of coffee.

"That's assuming that they are willing to listen." I muttered as I received the mug from him. "Half of Unovans' heads are now filled with the rubbish Team Plasma is feeding them. Trying to convince them will not work, they will just think that we are undermining their spiritual beliefs and then react violently."

"It is because of the religious element about this whole issue that the Unova League and the Government is being very careful about the whole Team Plasma thing." Uncle Cedric explained. "A 'holy war' might spark if things are not handled well. We don't need a repeat of what happened between the Twin Heroes."

"Truth versus Ideals." I scoffed. "Having ideals is good, but sometimes you need to accept the truth. There is a good reason why truths are also called facts, because they are _real_."

There was a brief period of silence in the room before Uncle Cedric spoke up again.

"You know what? Go take a break from all your research, Shannon." Uncle advised. "You are obviously too high strung after knowing what happened in Misaltron. Cooping yourself in the lab all day couldn't be healthy for you."

"Dad's right. How about helping me in investigating the origins of pokemon for a change?" Aurea suggested. "I'm going to be working with an excavation and archeological team from Kalos to investigate some newly uncovered ruins in Lacunosa. It's going to be fun!"

"Lacunosa?"

"Yup! I heard even Grimsley's son will be there as well! He is also a historian, you see. The ruins are most likely going to be of high historical value."

"Huh, I would have thought that the son of an Elite Four would be a trainer."

"Oh, he is, but that doesn't prevent him from trying to be a historian too." Uncle Cedric chuckled. "He's kind of a nut for history, like how we are nuts about trying to discover new things about pokemon."

"Grimsley is a Dark Specialist, right? Then it's highly likely that his son is too. In that case, there's a high chance someone of his status would have an absol, correct? I wonder if he can help me get some research data on the migratory patterns of the rare wild absols on Route 13-"

"Shannon, it's supposed to be a _break_."

"But uncle~ _Absols!_ Those are rare!"

"You can observe the one Grimsley's son has." Aurea suggested.

"Aurea, don't encourage Shannon. Please."

"Do you think his absol would allow me to touch its horn?"

"Maybe?"

"_Aurea_."

"Come on, Dad. You have to admit seeing an absol is a rare sight in itself. They are always so wary of humans. They almost never appear in front of humans in the wild."

"... Point."

* * *

"Please? Maybe you can call for your companions in the wild and let me put the tracker on them for me to observe their migratory patterns?"

The absol in front of me did a loud and audible scoff before walking away in the other direction.

"Ahahaha… Sorry about that. Absols really aren't the most sociable of creatures."

A guy in his late teens scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner as his absol made sure to distance itself away from me, scowling the entire time. He is Asher Dandolos, the son and only child of Grimsley of Unova Elite Four. He is also a historian.

"It's fine. I shouldn't have intruded into absol's personal space." I gave my own apology despite lamenting the loss of an opportunity to finally study the elusive absol species. There are absols in Unova but they almost never appear before humans. Spotting one usually means that a great disaster will be coming soon, so the common folks really don't like them that much.

"If you want to know more about absols, we can find a time to talk about it." Asher offered as we walked side by side to the excavation area. Asher's absol made absolutely sure to let me know that it is walking beside its trainer on the _other _side.

I guess it really doesn't like me.

_'Feeling's mutual. I don't like that void creature too.'_

_'Xavier, be nice.'_

"That would be nice." I replied to Asher's offer. "Studying absols are so hard because you can't usually see them. Studying those in the wild is near impossible."

"I can understand what you are talking about. I only got absol because Dad has some connections to help me get one." Asher admitted. "That's how I got some of the rarer dark types on my team too."

"You must be strong. I mean, no offence, but your dad is _Grimsley_, the oldest member of the Elite Four."

"I'm not weak." Asher said with a grin. "But I'm still far from reaching my father's strength and ability as a trainer. He is someone who managed to fully tame a tyranitar and get something as prideful as that monster to work with his team. It's a dream that only Dark Specialists like us can dream of but not many managed to make it a reality."

"A _tyranitar?_" I said in awe as my mind wanders off to how I could possibly research about their migratory patterns in the wild. "If only I can conduct research on their species one day…"

"Hahaha! You really are a Pokemon Researcher through and through, eh?" Asher laughed goodnaturedly as we finally reached the excavation site.

"I'm just an ordinary researcher like any other researcher." I smiled back at Asher as we watched as a team of rock and ground type carefully moved the earth to excavate the ancient ruins under the command of their trainer, a lady with long orange hair so dark that it almost borders on red cascading down her shoulders.

"That's Nova. She's from Kalos." Asher said as we stood at the side watching the excavation team work. "She's also a historian, although she also participates in the excavation process because she is a Ground Specialist. From what I know, her ground and rock types had helped make the excavation process a lot smoother whenever there is something to be dug out from somewhere deep under the ground."

"An archeologist _and _a historian?"

"Something like that, I guess. She always introduces herself as a historian though. I heard she's also the niece of Lysandre, the owner of Lysandre Labs in Kalos. You know what Lysandre Labs are? The company who invented the Holo Caster?"

"Heard about it." I nodded my head along. "Can't believe that holograms are actually a thing now. There are so many applications to it in the research field that it made my uncle giddy just by thinking about it."

"The medicine field too, last I heard, even if I have no idea how they are going to apply hologram technology to it."

Our conversation was cut short as right before our eyes, an ancient ruin was slowly unearthed and rose to the surface through the efforts of the various ground and rock type pokemon in the area. I even spotted the extremely rare tyrantrum and aurorus._ Fossil pokemon!_

"Amazing…"

"Pokemon are just that cool, eh?" Asher grinned. "They are really a great help to us humans and some of the best companions we can ever ask for. Makes me wonder why Team Plasma kept telling people to release them back into the wild. Not all pokemon are suited for the wild after living by our side for so long. Releasing them in such huge numbers is going to be bad for the environment too."

"That's what I've been telling everyone." I grumbled. "But no one seems to care about how our actions can affect the environment. Releasing pokemon back into the wild may not be the best for them. Why else are they still choosing to live right by our side?"

_'Because you provide free food.'_

_'No one asked for your opinion, Xavier.'_

"Alright! Please leave the safety inspection to Team A! Once they give us the all green and confirm that it is safe to enter the ruins, then we can start our work for real!"

The lady known as Nova made her voice loud and clear and the workers all gave a chorus of affirmation. Her team of ground and rock types gathered around her, their job completed.

"Nova!" Asher yelled a greeting over, hand waving in the air. "Over here!"

"Oh, Asher! It's nice to see you again!" The lady known as Nova walked over to us while waving a hello. "And this is?"

"Shannon Juniper." Asher formally introduced me to Nova as we both shook hands in greeting. "Shannon, this is Nova."

"Oh, I heard about you! You conducted some research on how climate change affects migratory behaviour of pokemon in Unova, right? My uncle was very interested in your research."

"R-Really?" I squeaked out and I can feel the heat flushing on my face. I knew I gained some fame ever since my work was published, but even _Lysandre _took an interest in my research?

"I personally think that your work was very good." Nova said as her gigalith somehow created a bench made of rocks right beside us. Nova motioned for us to sit on it as we continue our conversation. "My uncle had always been interested in making the world a better and more beautiful place, which was why your work caught his attention. He had been working for that cause for as long as I could remember."

"Shannon's a Juniper after all!" Asher laughed heartily. "A family of researchers!"

"I-I'm just an ordinary researcher. Compared to many others in the world who had published countless works that had made a difference, I had only published one."

"Sometimes, the quality of the work beats the quantity." Nova said in a gentle tone. "Like how a single Relic Crown will sell at the price of 300 pieces of Relic Copper. To my uncle, your work is that Relic Crown. Have faith in yourself. I knew for a fact that your work is starting to garner more international attention in the research field."

_"I-I-International?!" _I can hear my voice going a few pitches higher. This is a shock. I haven't really been keeping track of who is currently looking through my work. "I-I-I'm not ready for that kind of attention!"

"Then you better be." Asher teased. "Who knows? Maybe one day you can be a Pokemon Professor, like Professor Oak of Kanto!"

My mind blanked out for a moment. Me? Becoming a Pokemon Professor like _Professor Oak?_ **_That _**_Professor Oak?_

"N-N-No way!"

* * *

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2\. ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3\. ****Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4\. ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5\. ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**

**Asher Dandolos, Age: 19, Male, Dark Specialist, Historian, Son of Grimsley of Unova Elite Four**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Absol**

**2\. ****Bisharp**

**3\. ****Greninja**

**4\. ****Spiritomb**

**5\. ****Krookodile**

**6\. ****Scrafty**

**7\. ****Mandibuzz**

**8\. ****Liepard**

**9\. ****Cacturne**

**Grimsley Dandolos, Age: 49, Male, Dark Specialist, Unova Elite Four member**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Bisharp**

**2\. ****Scrafty**

**3\. ****Liepard**

**4\. ****Krookodile**

**5\. ****Sharpedo**

**6\. ****Drapion**

**7\. ****Absol**

**8\. ****Honchkrow**

**9\. ****Houndoom**

**10\. ****Tyranitar**

**Nova Labelle, Age: 26, Female, Ground Specialist, Historian, Niece of Lysandre**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Mamoswine (Berg)**

**2\. ****Excadrill (Solid)**

**3\. ****Golurk (Drift)**

**4\. ****Garchomp (Core)**

**5\. ****Golem (Crust)**

**6\. ****Claydol (Vision)**

**7\. ****Whiscash (Seis)**

**8\. ****Marowak (Tinen)**

**9\. ****Torterra (Terra)**

**10\. ****Gigalith (Mantle)**

**11\. ****Tyrantrum (Jaws)**

**12\. ****Aurorus (Sail)**

**13\. ****Sandile (Rumble)**


	6. Chapter 6- Emergence

I didn't see Aurea for _days_. That was how engrossed she was in her research.

The ruins that were recently uncovered turned out to be some sort of ancient temple or shrine. I'm not really sure about what it is exactly, but initial findings led the excavation team to believe that it may also be some sort of ancient library. Words are carved in a language long lost into the walls of the building. Artifacts are still being slowly found and carefully excavated. What I do know is that this ruin is a place where scholars from a time long past store and collect their findings and research data about pokemon. As a researcher that specialises in the origin of pokemon, Aurea is _very interested _in what could be found from the ancient building.

As for me? I'm just looking through all the ancient artifacts in awe. Just what kind of history are they telling? No one really knows, but that's what we are here to find out.

"Shannon~"

I saw my older cousin waving me over, to which I responded by walking up to her.

"Aurea?"

"You may be interested in this." She showed me a printed picture of some old text, also written in some language long lost that I cannot identify.

"Nova just finished translating the entire ancient book that we found. Turns out, it was a document that people of the old recorded about what they observed that went on during pokemon evolution."

That got my interest immediately. Pokemon Biology is also what I specialise in, and when you bring in the topic of Pokemon Biology, the topic of Pokemon Evolution comes hand-in-hand with it. The two can never fully separate themselves from each other.

"What does it say?" I asked excitedly, looking at the picture that shows only one single page out of the entire book.

"Most of the observations recorded down are already things that we already know in the present." Aurea tried to calm me down, knowing how excited I can be about anything that caught my interest. "But here, in this book, it says that they have observed that there are pokemon species who are known to evolve using certain evolutionary stones evolving _without _a need for those stones. Interesting, right?"

E-Evolving _without _a need for evolutionary stones?! Is that even _possible?!_

Aurea slung an arm around my shoulder, a knowing smirk on her face.

"So, you want to read that ancient record?"

"YES! Of course!"

"I got a translated copy for you, so now you have something new to play around with." Aurea all but shoved the piece of paper in my hand. "Look through what you can find in here. Who knows? Maybe you might be the one to crack the secret of Pokemon Evolution."

"Now that's too much." I laughed. "If even the likes of Professor Elm still has no idea why certain pokemon species need certain evolutionary stones to evolve, I don't think I would ever find out the secrets of Pokemon Evolution."

"Oh, cheer up! You really need to have more confidence in yourself, Shannon!" Aurea gave me several loud pats on the back that rattled my bones. "You are brilliant! You might be one of the greatest Pokemon Researchers in the world one day!"

"I doubt it."

"Alright, now go take a walk or something and think of your new hypothesis somewhere. I know you are getting bored of this place." Aurea pushed me out of the tent as she said this. "Have fun reading the text, Shannon!"

I looked down at the piece of paper in my hand.

Aurea's right. I'm probably going to have fun trying to think of ways to find out the reason why the observations recorded in the ancient book happened the way it did.

* * *

"Hmm… Why, why, why?"

I slowly tapped my finger on the table. Right on it, staring right back at me is the piece of paper Aurea had given me. My left cheek is resting on my other palm as I leaned my body weight on the table.

We are now at a cafe in Lacunosa Town. My team lazed around me as I tried to understand why such a phenomenon was observed by these ancient people, whatever lost civilisation they were from.

Basically, some ancient researcher documented an observation that there were pansages who evolved into simisage when entering a very specific area. What and where that area is today, nobody knows. However, the pansage species can only evolve when coming into direct contact with a leaf stone. For all thirty eight species of pokemon that are currently known to man that we know requires an evolutionary stone, _direct contact_ with the stone is needed to trigger the evolutionary process. Also, the size of the stone cannot be too small or evolution won't happen. Once the evolution process is completed the stone would lose its ability to evolve pokemon, which makes them perishable resources.

How these stones came to be, nobody knows. There were attempts to create artificial evolutionary stones but no one had succeeded, simply because no one knew how these evolutionary stones work in the first place. All we know is that they worked, but we are clueless as to the _how_.

But here, there was an observation that pansages evolved simply by _walking_ into a _specific area._ Unless you are telling me that the ground itself is one gigantic leaf stone, which is impossible, that observation shouldn't be made.

There are many ways pokemon can evolve. The most common one would be by getting stronger, which is why trainers are needed. Most pokemon have an instinctive need to want to get stronger so that they can evolve. However, they have difficulty gaining the strength they need to do so when living in the wild.

This is where humans come in.

Humans may be creatures who are physically weak, but we are clever. Our ancestors who first came into contact with pokemon made a pact with them. In return for helping them to find ways to become stronger, these pokemon will work for us.

Thus, the idea of pokemon trainers came about.

What was initially a case of mutually beneficial relationship soon became one of friendship and such arrangements soon became commonplace. Over thousands of years, pokemon became our best friends and we became theirs. That was how our current way of life came about.

There are also other ways for pokemon to evolve. Using items, for one. Over the years, there were items that were invented for the sole purpose of helping specific pokemon reach their final evolution. Electirizer, Magmarizer, Protector, Reaper Cloth. These are examples of items that are only invented in recent history to help stimulate the rare conditions needed for evolution for certain species of pokemon.

Maybe I should go in depth about how such items truly work?

The idea behind the invention of the electirizer should be easier for most people to understand. As many know, the final form of the elekid line is electivire. However, for an electabuzz to evolve into an electivire, several conditions must be met. For one, the electabuzz must have reached a certain level of strength. Secondly, it needs to absorb a tremendous amount of electrical energy in one go. In the wild, it is not uncommon for electabuzz to seek out a place where massive thunderstorms will rage, just to attempt to evolve themselves into an electivire. Many did not succeed. Most of such electabuzz perished in the endeavour because they absorbed more than what their bodies can withstand, simply because they are not strong enough.

Why evolving an electabuzz into an electivire is so difficult is also because for the evolution process to happen, the thunderstorm in question must be packed with so much electrical energy that Pokemon Rangers worldwide rank such thunderstorms as S Class Disaster Level. Any less will not trigger the evolution process and the entire amount of energy must be absorbed in one go. Not only that, such storms are rare to come by and _no one_ wants them to come by. Coming across such storms are rare as it is.

Of course, that still does not deter trainers to seek out places with dangerous thunderstorms, all for the sake of trying to evolve their electabuzz. There will always be such trainers who killed themselves and their pokemon while attempting something dangerous like this.

Hence, the invention of items such as the electirizer instantly became popular when our technological advancement allows the production of such items. What items like the electirizer does is to pack the same dangerous amount of electrical energy into one small box, just so to let an electabuzz evolve.

Such items are ridiculously expensive because of how hard it is to make one, but it is a way safer option to go for. _Although_, that still does not deter _some _trainers from trying out the suicidal old school method. There are even rumours flying around that Volkner from Sinnoh, a _Gym Leader_, actually seeked out such a thunderstorm in his youth to evolve his electabuzz into an electivire. His electivire is now being credited as the strongest electric type in Sinnoh and from what I heard, is an absolute monster in battle.

Successful attempt or not, I still feel that Volkner is a bad example to aspiring Electric Specialists worldwide for that stupid stunt.

There are other ways pokemon could evolve. Pokemon like the piloswine species could only evolve into a mamoswine only if it knows the move Ancient Power and reaches a certain level of strength. There are also pokemon like the magneton species who can only evolve when exposed to an area with an extremely strong magnetic field.

The observation recorded in the ancient text reminds me of how the magneton and nosepass species evolve upon entering a special area, but the pansage species evolve with the help of evolutionary stones, _not _by entering a special field.

So, is there a second way to evolve the pansage species? Or is the leaf stone somehow involved when this observation was made?

Questions, questions…

Alright, since nobody else had ever seen a pansage evolve without coming into contact with a leaf stone for the past few hundreds or thousand years after this particular observation was made, I guess it's safe to rule out the possibility of the pansage species being able to evolve upon entering a special area. That's one thing out of the way.

Hence, the leaf stone must be involved _somehow_. Since the observation clearly stated that no leaf stones were found to have come into direct contact with the pansages who evolved into simisage, then it must be a case of very specific conditions and circumstances that produced this anomaly.

There is a small line of text translated by Nova saying that the researcher soon found an unbelievably large deposit of leaf stones nearby after seeing how the pansages evolved. However, the researcher also clearly stated that the leaf stones did not come into contact with the pansages. My instinct as a researcher is telling me that the leaf stones _must _be involved somehow. They must be the key to the mysterious phenomenon observed.

Since it was only a specific area which allowed the pansages to evolve upon entering it, and assuming the leaf stones were the ones responsible for their evolution, that means that the influence exerted by the leaf stones must only be limited to that area. This means that the idea of distance is a key factor at play here. Distance should be a limiting factor to the stones' ability to affect the evolution process of the pansages. I just need to find out _what _is the distance factor limiting. Whether there is another limiting factor on top of distance is something that I will have to find out and test.

The entire research process is going to be fun.

"Shannon!"

I looked up, just in time to see Asher walking up to me with an old looking book in hand.

"Asher!" I greeted him back. Asher soon arrived and sat opposite me, putting down the old and dusty looking book on the table.

"What is that?"

"It's like a dictionary for old and forgotten languages. I compiled it on my own." Asher grinned in a wide smile before leaning towards me and told me something else in a whisper. "Just between you and I, Nova just found an old stone tablet that needs to be translated. I recognised the language on it to be one of the ancient languages among one of Unova's lost civilisations, so I ran back home to take the book for Nova. We haven't told the team yet because… well, it's complicated."

"Complicated?"

"The entire process we experienced to get that stone tablet is _spooky_." Asher shuddered. "It's just… It's just not supposed to be _possible_. Because of that, Nova and I decided to only inform the rest of the team about the stone tablet once we translated the contents on it."

"Spooky? So that's why you had to _run _back home to get your dictionary? The stone tablet might be important then."

"Sure is." Asher stated confidently as the liepard beside him visibly rolled its eyes at the statement. Someone's not a fan of history, I see.

"The stone tablet we found was located in an important looking room, protected behind layers and layers of ancient security. It was _impossible _to get in. If it wasn't for Nova, it might have taken us _forever _to get into the place although the way she did it… was kinda unbelievable." Asher continued excitedly with animated hand gestures before he ended it rather lamely towards the end. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Trying to crack the secrets behind pokemon evolution." I hummed thoughtfully. "The team found a book recording observations made by researchers of the past. One of the observations was of wild pansages evolving into simisages upon entering a specific area, which should be impossible. Their species evolve by coming into direct contact with a leaf stone."

"So cool!"

"I know right!"

"I have to head back for the excavation site now." Asher said as he stood up excitedly. "You coming?"

"Sure." I replied as I also followed his example. The cup of coffee that I had bought long ago is now empty anyway.

And then I blacked out. The next thing I know, I am lying face down on the ground, head spinning and ears ringing. My body is hurting all over and my vision is also swimming.

"Wha…"

_'Shannon! You finally woke up! Keep your head down!'_

I turned around and saw Koopa and Lancelot standing in front of me protectively. Bambi was nudging me with her snout, trying to get me to wake up. Xavier is using his psychic powers to redirect anything dangerous that is coming for us to go in another direction. Rogers is up in the sky, firing blasts of winds down below.

All I can see around me is chaos and carnage. Destruction is everywhere. Explosions happened every few minutes. Fire raged in the background.

**_Just what is going on?!_**

I know this is no time to think. My vision is still unfocused and my legs lack strength. I tried my best to get back up on my feet, holding onto Bambi for support. I managed to climb onto her back despite my disoriented senses.

"Where's Asher?!"

_'He went to fight with Team Plasma after making sure you are safe! Team Plasma are the ones attacking us right now!'_

"Why?!"

_'We don't know! They just appeared out of the blue! Hide yourself, Shannon!'_

I spotted Asher's dictionary lying close by and out of instinct, I quickly picked it up. I don't know **_what _**is going on right now, but I do know that we have to run. I'm worried about Asher, but he is a strong trainer and the son of an Elite Four member. He should be fine.

"Xavier! Guys! Come on, let's go together!"

_'On it!'_

A huge blast of psychic energy fired by Xavier gave us the opening we needed. Bambi dashed out from the chaos with me and Xavier on her back. I had to recall Koopa because she's not that fast on the ground. She won't be able to keep up. Rogers had dove down and picked up Lancelot, who is now riding on his back and flying overhead us.

Just why is Team Plasma attacking us?! From the looks of it, they are just indiscriminately attacking anyone who is not a member of their little cult while shouting phrases like_ 'Liberate all pokemon!_'

Why? What do they stand to get out of such senseless violence? I can already see _dead _people! People had _died _from their actions!

About a week ago, Team Aqua of Hoenn had just launched the largest siege in recent history on Lilycove City. Death toll is high and word has it that bodies are still being found among all the wreckage. Is Team Plasma trying to do something similar?

I'm not a trainer. My pokemon are not battlers. We don't know how to fight. As much as it stung to admit this, we will only be a burden to the trainers around us who are trying their best to protect everyone around them and push Team Plasma back. The only thing we can do now is to not get in their way.

So, we ran. That doesn't stop us from sneaking in pot shots at the Team Plasma grunts whenever we can. If we can help, even if it's just a little, we will help.

"Can you stand?" I shouted at a woman over the din who Lancelot just tackled a Team Plasma grunt away from. That grunt is going to have several broken ribs.

"I can make my own way out of here!" The woman shouted back. "Thank you!"

Xavier had exhausted himself trying to protect everyone when the attack by Team Plasma first started. He is in no condition to be using a Teleport to bring us out of here, so the only way left is to let Bambi bring us out using her swift legs. I also don't need to be an experienced pokemon trainer to know that the trainers defending Lacunosa Town are severely outnumbered. If only we have help. If only we have some form of aid._ Is there **anything **I can do?_

_We will be keeping an eye on you. Call on us if you ever need our aid and we shall provide it._

My eyes widened when I remembered that unexplainable encounter with wild psychic types who had helped me without reason some time back.

That wild gothitelle. I wonder if it will uphold its promise?

In any case, I have to try.

Fallen debris and rubble blocked many of our escape routes. Bambi had to constantly change directions to try and help us find our way out with Rogers giving directions from his position in the sky. Xavier protected us from harm with his psychic abilities when any stray attacks came too close to us.

From my position of Bambi's back, I closed my eyes and clasped my hands together in a prayer, my mind chanting the same thing over and over again, hoping that the gothitelle and the wild psychic types who helped me that day can hear my plea.

_Please, help us. Please, help us. Please, please, please, pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease_

**_Help us_**

The ground shook when a crackle almost as loud as thunder could be heard around us. I opened my eyes, spotting a huge number of wild psychic types floating in the air with the aid of their psychic powers in the area. The rage they are feeling is clear from how loud their psychic energies are humming. There are psychic types _still _teleporting into the area.

But all of that is lost on me in that moment. All I know is that I just couldn't believe my eyes. Help had really arrived.

I also spotted the same wild gothitelle from that day.

_'As we promised, we have come to your aid, Mind's Eye. We have sensed your plea and we too, dislike needless violence. Is there anything you want us to do?'_

"P-Protect the innocents from Team Plasma!" I said the first thing that comes to my mind, but quickly tried my best to clear my head when I spotted many unevolved psychic types around me. There's no way they can last in a battle against trained pokemon under the command of Team Plasma.

However, if there's one area psychic type pokemon can beat any other types of pokemon, it is their ability to do things instantaneously without even moving a single muscle.

"T-There's no way we can win a fight against T-Team Plasma!" I quickly yell out before the psychic types disappear after I tell them to protect whoever they can. "But we can save who we can! Bring away all the injured you can find away from the battlezone! Anyone that is not from Team Plasma, bring them to safety! Please! I'm begging you!"

**_'There's no need to beg us for our help.'_** There was a chorus of voices answering me in my mind, which is a really surreal feeling. **_'As long as your heart remains true, you will always find an ally in us psychics.'_**

I didn't have the time to reply. The next moment, all of the psychic types were disappearing one after another in a Teleport. My pokemon and I were suddenly teleported to somewhere outside the town, safe from all the danger. A second later, people start to appear by my side by the dozens. The wild psychic types are doing what I told them to, bringing people to safety with their usages of Teleport.

We cannot win the fight, but we can survive the battle.

"What's-"

"I don't know! The psychic types just suddenly app-"

"Are they under the command of a trai-"

People started to voice their confusion, although no one is questioning their good luck. I also saw many dead and injured being teleported into our area.

_'We had done all we could, Mind's Eye.' _I heard the gothitelle's voice in my head again, but none of the wild psychic types could be seen. _'We can sense help arriving, so we will leave it to them to clean up this mess. Just stay at your current position and you will be safe.'_

I focused my thoughts into the mental link gothitelle established with me.

_'I don't know how else I can say this, but thank you. Thank you for saving me and everyone else.'_

_'Like we said, there's no need to thank us. May we meet under better circumstances the next time, Mind's Eye. We bid you farewell.'_

I felt the mental link disconnected.

_'Shannon? Shannon! Asher! He-'_

I turned around when I felt Xavier tugging agitatedly at my shirt. I quickly got down from Bambi's back and ran forward, spotting what he saw immediately.

No

_No, it couldn't be._

"ASHER!"

"Hey… Shannon…"

Lying right there on the ground in a pool of blood is Asher. There is a nasty hole punched through his torso. Already, there is someone trying to do something about it, who I guess is first-aid trained. However, Asher's injuries are so grievous that it is obvious at first glance that we all instinctively know that…

_He won't make it._

"A-Asher?" I tried not to break down as I quickly got to his side and held his hand and ignored the steadily growing pool of blood underneath us, hoping that another miracle will happen. "S-Stay with me, okay? Y-Y-You wanted t-to see w-what that stone tablet said, r-right? D-Don't close your eyes now, you hear me? Y-Your d-dictionary i-is still with me, see?"

"M-My p-pokemon…" Asher rasped as he weakly passed two pokeballs into my hands. "S-Save t-them… I-I t-tried… but they… T-The rest are a-already…"

**_"I will!"_** I know my tears are already spilling out as I screamed, still holding onto his hand. "So you better stay alive too! Help is already on the way! Don't close your eyes!"

"D-Dad… H-He's g-going t-to be so sad…"

"Then don't die!"

I cannot remember what happened next. It was later on that Xavier told me that when help had finally arrived, I was still screaming Asher's name over and over again as the paramedics rushed over to him, trying to see if he could still be saved.

That day will soon be known by Unova as the Lacunosa Invasion. The attack was sudden and unexpected. Many innocent civilians and brave trainers lost their lives that day, totalling to a hundred and two.

That day is also when Asher Dandolos died at the young age of nineteen years old, and Team Plasma was officially declared by the Unova League as an official terrorist organisation the very next day.

* * *

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2\. ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3\. ****Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4\. ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5\. ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**

**Asher Dandolos, Age: 19, Male, Dark Specialist, Historian, Son of Grimsley of Unova Elite Four**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Absol**

**2\. ****Bisharp**

**3\. ****Greninja**

**4\. ****Spiritomb**

**5\. ****Krookodile**

**6\. ****Scrafty**

**7\. ****Mandibuzz**

**8\. ****Liepard**

**9\. ****Cacturne**

**Grimsley Dandolos, Age: 49, Male, Dark Specialist, Unova Elite Four member**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Bisharp**

**2\. ****Scrafty**

**3\. ****Liepard**

**4\. ****Krookodile**

**5\. ****Sharpedo**

**6\. ****Drapion**

**7\. ****Absol**

**8\. ****Honchkrow**

**9\. ****Houndoom**

**10\. ****Tyranitar**


	7. Chapter 7- Uncover

Asher's funeral was a solemn affair.

I didn't know him for long, but I know enough that he is a good man with a positive influence on others. We became fast friends not long after we were introduced to each other. Many trainers who were also fighting to defend Lacunosa Town that fateful day and survived had also mentioned that if it wasn't for Asher, many more would have died. He was the one who single handedly held off the main fighting force of the Team Plasma group who had launched an attack on Lacunosa Town.

Only two pokemon of Asher's survived, the two which he asked me to help save when he passed them to me in their pokeballs, a greninja and a spiritomb. Even when he was dying, he was still more worried about his pokemon than about his own life. He was a splendid pokemon trainer.

I passed the two pokemon to Grimsley of the Elite Four after the nurses healed the two pokemon back to health, and he looked like he lost his entire soul when he held the pokeballs in his hand.

"You were the one who was beside my son in his dying moments, right?"

"Yes." I replied softly and looked down, not really knowing what else to say.

"Did he… say anything before he…"

"H-He asked me to save his pokemon." I tried to not choke out a sob when my memories went back to that day. "A-And that… he d-doesn't want you to be s-sad."

"I see." Grimsley said after a moment of silence, pocketing the two pokeballs. I never saw him shedding a tear, but the look in his eyes told me that he had been grieving in his own way.

"Thank you, for being by Asher's side in his last moments."

"I couldn't do anything."

"You tried your best, that's all I need to know. Rest. From here on, it's my fight." Grimsley spoke in an even and quiet tone as we both stood in front of Asher's grave, buried right beside his mother and older brother. I idly noted that his older brother does not have a name engraved onto his tombstone, but it is not something that I should ask and definitely not right now.

"From here on, I will wage war against Team Plasma. Not just as a father who lost his son and only family left, but also as a member of Unova's Elite Four. They just made this _personal_, and I will show them just how **_dangerous _**a true Dark Specialist can be."

Grimsley's bisharp gave a hollow grunt of support.

"If there's anything that I can do-"

"Ms Juniper, you had done more than enough for me and Asher." Grimsley said as he turned to face me. "You have my thanks. The League is still trying to figure out where the wild psychic types came from, but you were the one who managed to get help from the wild psychics, am I right?"

I'm sure my shock showed on my face at his sudden statement.

"H-How-"

"I _am _a member of the Elite Four, I have my ways." Grimsley stated, voice still neutral but there's no mistaking the grief and anger he is hiding. "I don't know how you did what you did, but it is because of you that the death toll did not climb any higher. I thank you on behalf of the League for the help you have given. However, such a unique ability will attract unwanted attention. As far as I know I'm the only one who knows what you did and I assure you that my lips are sealed, but you should remember not to carelessly reveal such an ability to anyone else. This is the only advice I can give you."

"Yes, sir." I acknowledged, my head still bowed down due to the heavy feeling in my heart.

"I'm saying this from experience." Grimsley spoke up once more, which got me to look back up at the tall and lanky man. He pointed to the grave of Asher's older brother, the grave without a name.

"My eldest son, as you can see right here, used to have a similar ability before my wife and I lost him. His affinity was with dark types. My wife was a Kantonian and she stayed with her parents in Kanto to give birth to our son because I had made many enemies in Unova due to my line of work. I travelled over to Kanto as fast as I could when I learnt of my son's birth. I only held him in my arms for a week."

I remained silent. The only thing I can do now is to provide a listening ear, and I will do it if it makes Grimsley feel a little better.

"We haven't even gotten around to decide on a name for him and already he showed the ability to naturally draw dark types to him no matter if they were from the wild or living in human captivity. That unexplained ability was unnatural, but we didn't think too much about it because there are cases of people born with unexplainable abilities across the world. I was out buying groceries for my wife and in-laws, happily thinking about the list of names that we could name our first child. When I returned, the house was on fire. My in-laws perished in the fire. I barely managed to rescue my wife out of there. However, we never found our son among the wreckage, not even his corpse. We never gave him a name because it was too painful for us back then, to bury a son that we only just got. We still haven't got around to name him when my wife passed away five years ago. Now, my only child and family has left me too. There's only me left."

Grimsley paused for a moment before speaking again.

"The only thing I know but can never prove was that the fire was not natural. Somebody had done it and if I have to hazard a guess, someone might either have eyes on my son's latent abilities, or is xenophobic enough to want to kill him. People fear what they don't understand and ostracise those who are different, it's human nature. Do you see now? The type of things that can happen to you if you display unique and unusual abilities? You never know who has your eyes on you, so keep your unique ability hidden and under wraps. Don't let another soul know about it. The world will never be safe and I don't want you to suffer the same fate as my eldest."

Grimsley spun on his heels and walked off after giving me his speech, hands still in his pockets.

"We will meet again, Ms Juniper. If you ever need my help, just give me a call. Your uncle should have my number. Have a safe trip back home."

I stood in front of Asher's grave, not knowing what to think.

I have the ability to attract psychic types to me, Asher's older brother had the ability to attract dark types to him.

Is this normal? No. But why us?

_Why?_

Why did Team Plasma stage an attack on Lacunosa Town? Why?

_'Shannon, don't let your negative thoughts consume you.'_

"I know." I replied softly. "I… don't know what to do, Xavier. I just feel so uneasy."

_'Should we lose ourselves in doing some research work? Will it help?'_

"Maybe." I replied as I took out the dusty book that belonged to Asher. I can still remember his excitement in knowing what was written on that stone tablet.

"First, we give Nova a visit, then we go lose ourselves in research."

* * *

The both of us stared at the book on the table. We are currently in the hotel room where Nova is staying at. She will be flying off tomorrow because of the recent Lacunosa Invasion. Her uncle is worried for her safety and is adamant on having her leave Unova.

"I see." Nova said with a sad expression on his face after she had fully digested the news of how Asher had sacrificed himself. "If he hadn't went back to take-"

"If it's anybody's fault, it lies with Team Plasma." I answered firmly. "But Asher was so excited about learning what was on that stone tablet. I thought that the least I could do now is to deliver his book to you so that we can find out what it says."

"I'll do it." Nova agreed without hesitation. "It's the least we can do."

Nova used her Holo Caster to pull up a hologram image of the stone tablet as she opened Asher's book, flipping through the pages until she found what she needed.

"Parts of the text on the tablet are missing because they were eroded due to time, but it should be enough for us to find out the gist of what is written on it." Nova explained as she wrote the translation on a blank piece of paper with a pencil.

Her hand holding the pencil suddenly stopped moving.

"Nova?" I asked cautiously. When there was no reply, I called her a few more times.

"H-Huh?"

"You seem lost in thought. Are you alright?" I asked in concern when I noticed the cold sweat she was breaking out.

"I'm fine." Nova insisted. "It's just that…"

My eyes returned to the hologram of the stone tablet before looking at what Nova had written out on the piece of paper. The translation is obviously still incomplete, but part of the ancient text had been translated.

Naturally, my eyes quickly read what Nova had translated so far.

_"In times of … seven otherworldly sages will be called upon, displaced and reborn from the cycle of death, they will rise to… each sage -"_

Displaced and reborn from the cycle of death.

Reborn from the cycle of death.

_Reincarnation._

_Me._

"-non? Shannon? Shannon!"

A light slap from Nova got me out of an impending panic attack. This time, she's the one looking at me in concern.

"What happened? You almost had a panic attack!"

I'm sure my eyes are wide due to fear and disbelief, but I still try my best to look at Nova anyway. It took me a while to calm down but once I did, my logical researcher persona took over by default, piecing together what I knew.

My instinct told me that Nova is suspicious.

She was the one exuding the weird behaviour earlier until I snapped her out of it. Something in the text had unsettled her too. I don't know what came over me at that moment. Call it instinct, call it a moment of impulsiveness, but my gut feeling right then was telling me that Nova and I are alike in more ways than one.

"D-Do you know about… t-the… United States of America?"

I threw out one random fact from my previous life. If my guess is right, that she is also _like me_, then she would **_definitely _**know what America is.

Nova never said a word nor did she give any visible reaction that betrayed her inner thoughts, but the slight hitch in her breath is all that I need to know.

"... I also know about China. Australia. New Zealand. Asia. And many more."

The both of us remained in absolute silence after Nova's reply. We don't know how much time passed as we stayed that way, with me sitting on the floor while her hands were on my shoulders when she was trying to comfort me until I dropped the bomb on her.

"N-Nova?" I stuttered, not believing what was happening. "W-What's going on?"

"I don't know." Nova replied, and I cannot help but be impressed at how well she is handling the situation. I know that internally, she has to be also freaking out like I did. "But I think we should continue and find out."

Nova helped me up onto my feet and sat me down on a nearby chair. She sat beside me, pencil in hand once more. Her hand is still shaking a little, but she pressed on and continues to translate. The both of us remained in silence, the only sound was the quiet hum of the Holo Caster and the scratching of the pencil against the piece of paper.

Soon, whatever Nova can translate out of the ancient text was written on the paper.

_"In times of … seven otherworldly sages will be called upon, displaced and reborn from the cycle of death, they will rise to… each sage holds power that mortals know not, each having a unique strength… unite the world, liberate the world from chaos and bring about a new dawn… different titles:_

_Shadow, Vanquisher of Darkness_

_Flier, Symbol of Courage_

_Traveller, Companion of Chaos_

_Leader, Incarnate of Lightning_

_Scholar, Eye of the Mind_

_Watcher, Embodiment of Earth_

_Guardian, Protector of Lives"_

I simply snapped.

"W-What does this even mean?!"

"Calm down, Shannon. Freaking out doesn't help anyone!" Nova hissed at me. "I'm equally lost too! I thought I was the only one!"

"I wasn't even a true fan of pokemon back in… those times!" I hissed back. "Why am I even here?! Seven Sages?! Unite the world?! Liberate it from chaos?! BRING ABOUT A NEW DAWN?!"

"Can you just _calm down _for a second?!" Nova shouted back. "Fact is, we are _already _here. And if what the tablet says is to be believed, there are _five _more people out there in this world like us. What are we going to do about it?"

"I don't want to have _anything _to do about it." I emphasised with my hand gestures. "I don't even know that Unova existed until I came here!"

"Same for me. I don't even know if Kalos was a region that was in the games from back then. I didn't play the games that far." Nova admitted. "I don't know what is going on and why we are here, but maybe _they _know."

Nova's finger pointed to the seven titles written on the paper.

"Look, this is what I think, if we exclude the forsaken land that is Orre, there are also exactly seven regions that made up the world that we currently know. Somehow, everything is about the number seven. Seven Sages, seven regions, you with me so far?"

I turned to look at Nova.

"You mean, there is one of us to be found in every region."

"That's what I'm suspecting because both of us are born in different regions." Nova spoke her thoughts quickly and concisely. "I'm also doing a wild guess here, I have no real clue on what to do about this new information."

"And _how _are we supposed to find them?" My hands ran through my hair in frustration. "Even if we want to find the rest of them and see if they have answers, how? How are we going to identify them? We cannot possibly go around and ask random people if they know what America or China is! There's too many people to ask!"

Nova sighed and rested her forehead on the palm of her hand.

"I don't know, Shannon. We barely know each other and now we found out that we are the same kind of people. All I wanted to do was to do what I like and uncover the history of this world."

"I just wanted to be an ordinary researcher." I groaned as my hands covered my face.

When both of us are finally done freaking out, we looked at the translated text once more.

"I should be the one that holds the title of _Scholar_." I spoke up carefully. If each one of us holds a title, then the title of Scholar fit me best.

"What makes you so sure? Simply because you are a researcher?"

"No, that was what every wild psychic type referred me as when they talked to me through telepathy. They called me the Mind's Eye. Mind's Eye. Eye of the Mind. That's no coincidence."

Nova's gaze returned back to the paper. She stared at it for a while before pointing to a certain title.

"In that case, I should be the Watcher, the Embodiment of Earth. I have an unnatural affinity for ground types, which is why I became a Ground Specialist in the first place. Ground types just seemed to love me."

I nodded in agreement before a phrase that Nova used caught my attention.

"Wait, unnatural affinity?"

"Yes. I can… understand them. I don't know how, I just can." Nova tried her best to explain, obviously still reeling from the huge revelation. "It's not like I can understand them word for word, but I somehow know what they are talking about on a very instinctive level. Wild ones, trained ones, even those captured by other trainers. I can understand them as long as they are ground types."

"My affinity is with psychics. My beheeyem said that I am special to them." I quickly added as my mind starts to work overtime trying to piece all the clues together. "So, if we assume that words like Darkness, Courage, Chaos, Lightning, Mind, Earth, and Lives are actually referring to pokemon types, then-"

"Each of the other five people, people like us, also have some sort of… super power. Unnatural ability. Whatever." Nova said with a wave of her hand. "We just need to find out what types they are and which region we can possibly find them in. _If _we even want to find them."

I gave her last sentence a little thought.

"Actually… why not?"

"Why yes?" Nova pointed at another section of the text. "This whole thing just screams ominous to me. In times of…? I bet the missing word is chaos, or something similar. Nothing good will come out of it if all seven of us come together. It's like fulfilling some… some sort of _prophecy _or something!"

"What if we _have _to find each other?" I offered the other point of view quietly. "We both know that us having a second chance is no accident. Why had we not found out about this sooner? Why is it **_you _**who found this tablet and nobody else? Why do we only find out about this _now_, when Asher's dictionary just _so happens_ to be in **_my _**hands and I met **_you _**_here _in Unova?"

Nova did not manage to voice out a reply.

"Maybe you are right. I was the only one who managed to enter that room and take this tablet out. No one else could enter."

"Jesus Christ. All I wanted was to research pokemon." I muttered. "What can I even do to... what? Save the world? Be a hero? Claim that we are the true Seven Sages? Team Plasma will silence us even before we stepped out of the door if they get wind of this."

"Then we keep this a secret. I can bring this tablet with me back to Kalos, secure it under lock and key in the most protected vault of Lysandre Labs. Asher's dictionary cannot be left behind, we need to destroy it. I had already memorised what I need to know to translate similar languages."

"What? You already memorised the _entire _thing?"

"Photographic memory." Nova shrugged. "I got lucky, I guess, to be born with something like that in this life."

"Real lucky." I grumbled. Why couldn't I have something like that as well? "Should we try to crack as much as we can about the remaining five? I'm sure we can deduce _something _out of this."

"Let's start with the first one then." Nova said in a no-nonsense tone. "Shadow, Vanquisher of Darkness."

"Sounds so ominous." I muttered before I was violently reminded about something.

_"My eldest son, as you can see right here, used to have a similar ability before my wife and I lost him. His affinity was with dark types."_

_"-he shows the ability to naturally draw dark types to him no matter if they were from the wild or living in human captivity. That unexplained ability was **unnatural**, but we didn't think too much about it."_

"...Shannon?"

"I think I know who this Shadow person is." I can feel my hands trembling as I said this. "Grimsley. Grimsley's eldest son. Asher's older brother. Grimsley mentioned that his eldest son displayed an unnatural affinity for dark types, dark types are just attracted to him somehow. B-But Grimsley lost him in Kanto to a fire about a week after he was born. His body was never found. There wasn't even a name for him because his parents never got around to decide what to name him until that incident."

"But what if he never died in that fire?" Nova speculated. "I think it's not a far stretch to say that for both our cases, we are loved and protected by pokemon that belong to a certain type. For you, it's Psychic. For me, it's Ground. For Grimsley's son, it's Dark. If he was so loved by dark types to the point that there will always be one or two watching him from some unseen corner, maybe he was rescued from the fire by a Dark type without knowing who he really is."

"And he would most likely still be in Kanto, because that's where Grimsley lost him." I continue to add on to the speculation, head spinning a little.

"Probably. So that's one out of the way. There is another one of us in Kanto with an affinity for dark types, so this is what we will be looking out for if we ever go to Kanto."

I looked at the translated text again and furrowed my brows when I spotted a pattern.

"Call me crazy, but what if the order of the titles listed here happens to be the same order as which regions were first united by their respective champions right before they came together under the Pokemon World League?"

Nova turned to stare at me, mouth closing and opening without a sound until she made her reply.

"What makes you think that way?"

"Look." I pointed at the titles with my finger as it went down. "Kanto was the first region to be united, followed by Johto. Together, they created Indigo. That is a piece of history that everyone knows. Assuming that Shadow really is in Kanto, then it means he is currently staying in the first region to ever be united and his title also happens to be at the very top of the list. Hoenn was united next, followed by Sinnoh, then Unova, Kalos, then finally Alola. My title of Scholar is the fifth one, your title of Watcher is the sixth. _The order fits_."

Nova quickly looked through the text before taking a deep breath.

"I think you are right. This is too much to be a coincidence. So, the Flier is in Johto then? Symbol of Courage?"

"Flying types." I answered immediately. "The title given is Flier, so it should be flying types."

"It would." Nova agreed. "In ancient times flying types are also sometimes seen as a representation of freedom, righteousness, and courage. It would fit."

Nova's fingers went down to the next title.

"Traveller, Companion of Chaos."

"That… I don't really know. Chaos can mean anything. Companion of Chaos doesn't sound like anything good, to be honest."

"But if chaos means a certain pokemon typing, then it only means that this person has a high affinity for a certain type of pokemon. And this Traveller probably travels a lot too, and is from Hoenn."

"My beheeyem call Dark types creatures of the void, so it's not Dark types, and Shadow is probably the one with an affinity for dark types anyway. Vanquisher of Darkness and all that, which… I don't know. Why would he vanquish his own affinited typing?"

Nova shook her head.

"I think it's just a matter of grammar. Certain meanings of the words have been lost to translation. This is the best I can do. Grimsley's lost son being the Vanquisher of Darkness made a lot of sense to me. Grimsley is a renowned Dark Specialist. Furthermore, Shadow was born in Kanto."

"Are we telling Grimsley ab-"

"No."

"Okay. I feel the same too. I don't want anybody else that is not people like us to find out about our status too." I answered Nova's swift reply. "And about this Companion of Chaos." I gave it a little bit more thought before speaking it out. "Maybe it refers to ghost types? The energy they emit has been referred to as chaotic by many researchers worldwide."

"So someone in Hoenn who possibly has an affinity for ghost types." Nova nodded along. "Next. Leader, Incarnate of Lightning. The pokemon typing for this one is pretty obvious."

"Affinity for Electric types, but why Leader?"

"I don't know why, but the first thing I thought about when I saw the word 'Leader' was Gym Leader. Since this title is the fourth in line, does Sinnoh have-"

As though a silent cue was given, the both of us turned to face each other in perfect unison.

"Volkner."

Nova broke the silence.

"Last I heard, he retired from his position as Gym Leader and disappeared about two years ago. It was right after he played a vital role in protecting Sinnoh and dealing a crippling blow on Team Galactic. Nobody knows where he disappeared to."

"We don't even _know _if Volkner is the person we are looking for." I reminded Nova. "Leader can mean many things. There are many types of leaders."

"Sinnoh. Lightning. Leader. Tell me this is a coincidence."

"I… Alright, you have me there." I conceded. "Let's see if we have any way to track Volkner down. I don't think we can straight up contact the Sinnoh League and ask for Volkner's phone number, they will just throw us out. We need to think of something else."

"Let's think of how we are going to interpret the last one." Nova pointed to the very last title. "Guardian, Protector of Lives."

"I have no clue, Nova."

"Neither do I. This is too vague. Many pokemon protect each other in their natural habitat even if they are from a different species, it is a behaviour observed in all pokemon types. This can mean _anything_."

"The only thing we can make an educated guess about is that this Guardian is from Alola, and has an affinity with a specific pokemon type like us."

"I have to leave Unova tomorrow." Nova spoke up after a brief moment of silence. "We'll destroy this book and the translated text. I can use my uncle's connections to send this tablet to Kalos without anyone else knowing and secure it in the safest vault Lysandre Labs can offer. We need to exchange numbers too. This whole thing is giving me goosebumps and I don't want to deal with this alone. Anything new we find out about this, we inform each other."

"I agree." I admitted. I feel bad for destroying Asher's belongings, but I really don't want to risk the chance of anyone else that is not the seven of us finding out about our secrets. Grimsley's reminder and advice to me is still ringing in my head.

I also need to hurry and find this Shadow person, so that Grimsley can reunite with the son he thought he lost.

And then, maybe we can start to find out if there is a purpose in the seven of us being here at all.

* * *

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2\. ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3\. ****Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4\. ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5\. ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**

**Grimsley Dandolos, Age: 49, Male, Dark Specialist, Unova Elite Four member**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Bisharp**

**2\. ****Scrafty**

**3\. ****Liepard**

**4\. ****Krookodile**

**5\. ****Sharpedo**

**6\. ****Drapion**

**7\. ****Absol**

**8\. ****Honchkrow**

**9\. ****Houndoom**

**10\. ****Tyranitar**

**Nova Labelle, Age: 26, Female, Ground Specialist, Historian, Niece of Lysandre**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Mamoswine (Berg)**

**2\. ****Excadrill (Solid)**

**3\. ****Golurk (Drift)**

**4\. ****Garchomp (Core)**

**5\. ****Golem (Crust)**

**6\. ****Claydol (Vision)**

**7\. ****Whiscash (Seis)**

**8\. ****Marowak (Tinen)**

**9\. ****Torterra (Terra)**

**10\. ****Gigalith (Mantle)**

**11\. ****Tyrantrum (Jaws)**

**12\. ****Aurorus (Sail)**


	8. Chapter 8- Secrets of Evolutionary Stone

Nova had left Unova and I went back to my research work. None of us made any headway into the investigation behind the reason for our reincarnation or find out who the other five are. We don't even know _how _to do it since it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

So, we simply decided to just let nature run its course. If we meet any of the other five, then we will decide from there.

Months passed, things changed. The Unova League is now hunting Team Plasma down with Grimsley leading the charge. There was resistance from the public, especially those who had accepted Team Plasma's ideals like their own religious beliefs. It is still a delicate situation to handle for the Unova League and also the Unova Government.

Grimsley and I still talked to each other occasionally through the phone, forming a surprising form of friendship. He had shared with me many things about dark types that I would never have found out on my own. I asked him if he knew about an 'evolutionary area' as what was recorded in the ancient text Aurea shared with me, which he replied with a negative.

That is the reason why I'm currently engrossed in conducting research on Pokemon Evolution. More specifically, trying to solve the mystery of how the known evolutionary stones actually triggered the evolutionary process. Everybody knows that evolutionary stones trigger the evolutionary process for certain species of pokemon, but no one knows _how _exactly.

Hence, this research.

There are many known stones that can affect pokemon's evolution. Fire Stone, Water Stone, Thunder Stone, Leaf Stone, Moon Stone, Sun Stone, Shiny Stone, Dusk Stone, Dawn Stone, Ice Stone, Everstone.

However, excluding the Everstone that actively prevents a pokemon from evolving, not all pokemon needs a stone to evolve. So, therein comes the question, _why?_

It is a question that no pokemon scientists or researchers around the world have found the answers to yet. Hence, it is a little ambitious for me to try and embark on my own experiment to try and find an answer myself.

I am but a no-name, ordinary researcher. A little girl from a backwater town, and here I am, trying to solve one of the greatest mysteries that no one had ever managed to solve yet. Feel like I'm being an arrogant ass, to be honest, to even have the audacity to _dare _and try something that people better than me have failed.

"Alright Xavier, help me record this, test one-four-seven."

_'On it.'_

I cleared my throat and began to record my experiment when the camera started to roll.

"Ahem. This is Researcher Shannon Juniper. This is the one-four-seventh attempt of the experiment regarding Pokemon Evolution and evolutionary stones. This time, the hypothesis that I am testing about how evolutionary stones truly work is based on the theory of radiation. If this experiment finally works, I might have just cracked the secrets behind how pokemon evolved through the use of evolutionary stones."

_'We better crack it. I'm getting sick of seeing these stones everyday.'_

_'Just shut up and record it.'_

_'Alright, alright. Geez, what got your panties in a twist?'_

Ignoring Xavier's sass, I continued.

"So I have with me samples of cells from a pansage, a species of pokemon who can evolve through the leaf stone. In the previous tests, I had just confirmed under the microscope that simply by putting the sample of cells in a petri dish and placing it near a leaf stone, the cells visibly reacted as if trying to go through a spontaneous mutation. The further the distance between the stone and the petri dish, the lesser the reaction."

I made sure the petri dish can be seen on the video recorder Xavier is holding.

"However, it didn't transform into the cells of a simisage no matter how close I can possibly put them together without them coming into physical contact, separated by the petri dish. Still, the reactions I observed under the microscope led me to believe that the leaf stone has an unobservable effect on the pansage cells if we are simply using our naked eye. Also, the cells wouldn't permanently transform into those of a simisage until it comes into direct contact with the leaf stone. That is an effect I had observed in the previous test, experiment one-four-six."

I held out a leaf stone in my other hand.

"However, the other evolutionary stones do not have such an effect on the pansage cells no matter how I tried. So, what made the leaf stone so special to the pansage cells? Why didn't the pansage cells not react to the other evolutionary stones? Why did the pansage cells react even when not in direct contact with the leaf stone but only permanently evolve into those of a simisage when coming into direct contact with it? Thus, gathering all the questions I have after making many observations from the past 146 experiments, I came up with a hypothesis."

I looked back up at the video recorder.

"Radiation. My hypothesis is, each and every type of evolutionary stone emits a very specific radiation wave. I had tested that earlier in experiment one-four-five, that each evolutionary stone would emit almost undetectable traces of radiation waves that most of the standard lab equipment would not be able to detect. They are even above the range of gamma rays, which theoretically, should have killed most organisms simply by being exposed to it. However, as we all know, holding onto an evolutionary stone with your bare hands does not have any harmful effect on humans or pokemon, which contradicts everything we know about radiation waves. However, investigating that anomaly is not the purpose of this experiment, so we shall not explore further on that topic for now."

I signalled for Xavier to shift the video recorder such that it captures the newest lab equipment that my uncle recently managed to get for me for this experiment.

"Since these radiation waves are nigh undetectable for most equipment, I suppose it is not surprising that no one had thought to investigate the secrets of the evolutionary stones by approaching it from the perspective of radiation before. This equipment I have here can be used and tuned to emit the same specific radiation from the leaf stone in my hand. If my hypothesis holds true, then the pansage cells in the petri dish will react to it just as how it reacted to the leaf stone."

I placed the petri dish onto the microscope and turned on the equipment that can emit the same radiation wave, at the same amount emitted from the leaf stone.

Here goes nothing.

I placed my eye at the eyepiece lens to observe the behaviour of the pansage cells.

Holy sh-

_"It worked…"_ I gasped out with my hands over my opened mouth as I took a few steps backwards after I saw what my hypothesis said I should be seeing should my hypothesis hold true.

_Radiation is the key to evolution._ At least for pokemon who evolves with the help of evolutionary stones.

_'Shannon?'_

"It worked!" I shook Xavier excitedly with my hands. _"My hypothesis worked!"_

_'H-Hey! Stop shaking me!'_

"No, I don't have total confirmation about this phenomenon yet." I muttered when I forcefully calmed myself down and paced about agitatedly. "This can only be a fact if it applies for _every single pokemon _known to evolve through an evolutionary stone."

_'Well, then what are we waiting for?'_

"Lancelot! Koopa!" I yelled out towards the back of the lab. "Bring out the rest of the pokemon cell samples and the evolutionary stones!"

If my hypothesis holds true for _every single _pokemon cell samples taken from pokemon species known to evolve with the help of their respective evolutionary stone…

_I might have just cracked the secrets of pokemon evolution._

* * *

"Shannon… This…"

"Don't you _see _it, uncle?" I said excitedly as I handed to him the lab results. "My hypothesis applied to _all thirty-eight species_ of pokemon known to evolve using evolutionary stones! This is it! _Radiation is the key to letting these species of pokemon evolve! _**Very specific** levels and amount of radiation! The radiation wave, in terms of frequency, must be _exactly _those emitted by the stones! So exact that any difference in the composition of the radiation wave would not provoke the same reaction! _Each _type of evolutionary stones emits their _own specific radiation wave_ that helps certain species of pokemon evolve!"

"This… I…" My uncle held my lab report in one hand, his other hand clutching at his hair. He read through the results of my experiments again and again.

"This is… _fantastic!_" My uncle exclaimed once he finally got his mind in working order again. "If the same experiments can be repeated under the same conditions by another researcher, in another lab, then your hypothesis will become a **_scientific fact!_**"

"Good job, Shannon!" Aurea hugged me excitedly as we both squealed at this new discovery.

"But why these pokemon? Why that very specific stone?" My uncle questioned out loud.

"I have another hypothesis." I immediately answered. "That for these species of pokemon, their cells are receptive to a _very specific_ radiation wave emitted from a _very specific_ evolutionary stone. Like how a pansage cell is only receptive to the radiation wave from a leaf stone and how a pansear cell only reacts to the radiation wave emitted from a fire stone."

I pointed to the lab report in my uncle's hands before continuing.

"But in this experiment, I'm only using pokemon _cell samples_. Not real pokemon. I don't know if simply focusing the needed radiation waves on the pokemon itself can trigger their evolution. I cannot confirm for sure because conducting experiments on live pokemon is very strictly regulated and I don't think we can conduct this unless we have approval from the Unova League itself."

"If you can evolve a pokemon simply by artificially creating that very specific radiation wave similar to those emitted from their needed evolutionary stone…" Aurea trailed off.

"We would have eliminated the need of an evolutionary stone." I completed the sentence immediately.

"But that doesn't answer the fact that the stone itself must come into _direct contact _with the pokemon to trigger the evolutionary process." My uncle questioned.

"I have _another _hypothesis for that." I answered, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.

"And that is?"

"Not only must the radiation wave be _very specific_, it must have the _minimum amount_ of power needed to trigger evolution. Radiation waves generally become weaker the further away the source of the radiation is. If we take that into consideration, then maybe the needed amount of power of the radiation waves within the stone can only be achieved when the stone comes into _direct contact _with the pokemon, because at zero distance, it is where the radiation are at its strongest and its most concentrated, thereby-"

"-having the required minimum amount of 'power' needed within the radiation waves to trigger the evolutionary process." Uncle Cedric said with dawning realisation.

"That might explain why evolutionary stones need to be of a certain minimum size to be able to trigger the process of evolution." Aurea added, her right hand on her chin in a thinking pose. "Because they emit the minimum amount of 'power' of these radiation waves stored in those stones."

_"Exactly."_ I said excitedly as I pointed my finger-gun at them. "So if the machine can produce the needed specific radiation wave similar to those emitted by a leaf stone for, let's say, a pansage, and we amp up the power behind the waves such that it is enough to theoretically trigger the process of evolution..."

"We can evolve a pokemon without the need of an evolutionary stone." Aurea deduced. "Maybe the amount and the specific nature of the radiation waves was the explanation behind what that ancient researcher saw. The large deposit of leaf stones produced a very specific radiation wave in such a huge amount that it caused any pansages that walked near it to evolve. So if we have a machine like what you described that can reproduce the effect of having a large deposit of a certain type of evolutionary stone, we would not need to rely on using the stones anymore to help pokemon evolve."

"Provided we humans don't die from radiation poisoning by standing so near to the radiation emitter in the first place. I'm still confused as to why we are unaffected by holding these stones when they have such high radiation content." I warned.

"Maybe it is the stone itself that is protecting us?"

"Why is it _these _stones that hold the power of evolution anyway? Why not any other type of stones or the random pebble by the side of the road?"

"That is a topic of research for another day." Uncle Cedric insisted as he ushered us to our rooms. "For now, let's all go and catch some sleep. It's three in the morning."

"But uncle-"

"Sleep, Shannon." Uncle all but ordered. "Or I'll ask Xavier to lock you in your own room."

_'I'll readily comply.'_

_'Traitor.'_

* * *

The research paper that I just published made me famous in the research community overnight.

Other researchers and scientists around the world had also reported the same results when they conducted the same experiments as I did. Of the various pokemon species that needed evolutionary stones to evolve, species like the eevee and gloom species are the most peculiar, since they can evolve with more than one type of stone and the final evolutionary form will differ depending on the stone used. Their cells are naturally reactive to the radiation waves emitted from more than one type of stones, which explains how they can be evolved and how they possess more than one type of evolutionary forms depending on the stone used.

There are also limitations to the experiment. For one, my experiment was not conducted on a real pokemon because there is no telling what effects, positive or negative, will happen when we expose them to very specific levels of radiation. Until we can find a way to make the experiment safe for the pokemon in question, cell samples will have to do. Secondly, my experiment did not take into account items such as the King's Rock and Metal Coat, which method of usage while qualifies as a stone in the very basic sense, does not exactly trigger the evolutionary process in the same way the usual evolutionary stones did.

Still, it opened up a whole new perspective researchers should use to view the phenomenon known as Pokemon Evolution. Now, the same concept is being applied for pokemon known to evolve upon entering a special field, like how a magneton does upon entering an area of dense magnetic field like Mt Coronet in Sinnoh. However, for magneton's case, instead of radiation, the factor behind it is magnetism. While the two things are different, researchers just cannot help but draw parallels and comparisons to the two phenomena.

I am a researcher that specialises in Pokemon Migratory Behaviour and Pokemon Biology, but funnily enough what people know me as now is that I am a researcher that just discovered a whole new dimension of Pokemon Evolution that nobody had ever discovered before.

To be honest, I'm starting to find myself more and more interested in the field of Pokemon Evolution too, but if I want to learn more, I cannot stay in Unova.

"Umm… Uncle? I think I want to learn a little more about Pokemon Evolution, but..."

"Just say it." Uncle encouraged as he sipped his coffee while typing out his own research report on another finding he had discovered from his own experiments. "What you just discovered is groundbreaking, Shannon. As long as it is not unethical and immoral, the League should approve of it."

"It's also not about the League, Unova is not really big on science and research as compared to the other regions. Furthermore, none of our researchers here are exactly experts on Pokemon Evolution." I admitted. "However, those who are in Indigo, specifically…"

"Professor Elm." Uncle finished. "He's the forefront researcher on this topic."

"Yes." I admitted. "And if possible, I want to see if he can take me under his wing, even if just for a short moment."

"I think he will be excited at having you over." Uncle mused. "Alright, I will send an email over to him. Elm is good at what he does, you will learn a lot simply by talking to him."

And that is how I found myself boarding a ship that is heading for Olivine City in Johto.

That would also mark the start of the craziest and most un-ordinary journey in my life.

* * *

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Specialisation: Pokemon Migratory Behaviour, Pokemon Biology**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2\. ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3\. ****Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4\. ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5\. ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**


	9. Chapter 9- Creeping Darkness

If I have to describe Professor Elm in a single word, it would be "genius".

Professor Elm used to be a student of Professor Oak. When he first started out, he specialised in studying unusual Pokemon Abilities. Then not long after, he began to branch out into Pokemon Breeding and study the mystery known as Pokemon Eggs. Now, he is also known to be the foremost expert when it comes to Pokemon Evolution.

A Pokemon _Professor _that specialises in _three _different fields of study. I know Indigo has always been the birthplace of some of the brightest minds in the world, but it is only after working and learning under Professor Elm and other Pokemon Researchers here in Johto for a few months did I realise just how true that statement is.

The researchers here are just that bright and smart. Unova really has nothing on them in this area. At most, only people like my uncle and Aurea would be able to match them in smarts and contributions to the discoveries of the various fields of pokemon.

My discovery of the truth behind evolutionary stones had garnered a certain amount of international attention. Honestly, I don't see such a big deal behind my discovery because all I did was to simply test if radiation was the way those stones worked. Anyone could have discovered it with enough luck on their side. In any case, I'm glad that I now have something else on top of my work on Pokemon Migratory Behaviour to add into my portfolio. It was what earned me a spot in Professor Elm's lab.

And let me tell you, learning under Professor Elm can be so _rewarding _and _exciting_.

I really get to learn more about Pokemon Evolution under him. What he theorised and found out about evolution really changed the way I think about Pokemon Evolution. Remember what I said previously about how the term "evolution" was used pretty loosely? Professor Elm actually found a way that can logically and accurately explain how evolution worked!

Right, so let's get into the lesson proper. Lesson one, Pokemon Evolution!

In the very broad and generic sense, Pokemon Evolution can be defined as a change over time in a given species and this change occurs in the DNA. What people sometimes don't understand or know is that the change doesn't need to be huge. In fact, the change doesn't need to be visibly observable. As long as there is change, you can argue that evolution has taken place. What does matter is when these small changes have accumulated over a long period of time and come together in a common gene pool, a species might become different enough from the previous "version" and become a new species altogether.

Thus, this explanation also supports the current and most prevalent theory that all modern dragon types we see today all have a common ancestor in the form of the tyrantrum species. It helps that as of now, most dragon types have a little bit of tyrantrum DNA within their own, further proving that the tyrantrum species is the ancestor of all dragon types that we currently know. Interesting, right?

What we need to understand is that these changes, these _evolutions_, gives rise to more complexity and randomness in DNA. Many professors worldwide believe that natural selection is what drives the complex changes and randomness to head in a certain direction.

Going forward, when talking about Pokemon Evolution in the sense of how modern species of pokemon came about, many people like to use dragon types as an example and more specifically, about the tyrantrum species because this species of pokemon is what people suspect to be the ancestor of many modern pokemon that we know today, especially dragon types. It is a very classic case study that all scientists will need to know.

What we do know about the tyrantrum species is that over the years, the offspring of the tyrantrum species had all adapted to wherever they ended up living in order to survive. Like how the bagon species eventually grow wings to be able to fly from where they live in the mountain tops, and how the gible species eventually evolves into a garchomp, whose body is suited for quick underground travels through the desert and even be capable of gliding through the air. It's all because of the conditions in their natural habitat that drove them to adapt to living in such places.

Of course, there is probably more to this that we don't know. Using dragon types as an example, there are cases like the horsea and skrelp evolutionary lines, who didn't start off as dragon types at first but their final evolutionary forms are dragon types. What Professor Elm's studies suggest is that such species are in fact descendants of dragon types from a long time ago, but due to their natural habitat, the dragon genes in them got "repressed", which we call "recessive" genes. They don't express themselves visibly but they are still there in the gene pool. However, for some unexplainable reason, these recessive genes only show themselves when they evolve into their final evolutionary form, thus giving them the dragon typing at the expense of dominating one of their previous typing in their previous form. It is still a mystery researchers worldwide are trying to solve.

Well, that is Pokemon Evolution if you want to discuss it from a very broad perspective. What most people would want to know is the other part of it, the _spontaneous _transformation that we all observe that our pokemon go through when they reach a certain level of strength or grow into a certain stage in their lives. Like, _poof_, a flopping magikarp suddenly turns into a ferocious gyarados. How did that happen?

As discussed earlier, Evolution is defined as the changes to the DNA. This is where things get blurry for most. Professor Elm is the one who managed to provide a logical and scientific explanation to the how, even if currently, it still cannot be proven. Nevertheless, it is the best explanation that the world currently has when it comes to trying to explain this mysterious phenomenon.

The example that Professor Elm uses to illustrate his explanation is through something we cannot see with the naked eye. Viruses.

Viruses "reproduce" by copying their genetic material into other cells and letting the host cells reproduce for them. A special trait about viruses is that they mutate and "evolve", effectively becoming an organism that can share DNA without a need to reproduce. Such a process is known as horizontal gene transfer. Main point is, such processes don't need to take hundreds of years or generations and are effectively still considered as "evolution".

Yes, it's weird, but it is what it is.

With that in mind, the theory Professor Elm proposed is that when pokemon evolve- _and I mean the spontaneous part of evolution_\- maybe in their bodies they are actually releasing some sort of biological mechanism. It could be hormones, maybe a specific virus, or even an enzyme. We don't know for sure. Professor Elm further suggests that what this unknown mechanism does is to "attack" every single cell of the pokemon all at once, which means that the pokemon's DNA of every single cell in its body will undergo a spontaneous change, together. What is essentially happening is that the pokemon's genetic code will be modified and rebuilt in such a rapid process that this "evolution" would only take a few seconds to a minute instead of the thousand of years that we expect it to be. Outwardly, the visible effect we will observe is evolution.

Of course, like I had already mentioned, Professor Elm may be wrong, but this is the best explanation we can get as of now.

With this theory other questions will arise. How do this process of evolution all produce consistent results? Like how a magikarp will always evolve into a gyarados and nothing else. How is it possible that there are no other variations of magikarp's evolution? Of course, there are pokemon who are known to evolve into different forms. The eevee, tyrogue, and poliwhirl species all have several forms which they can evolve into depending on the situation at the time of their evolution. It is another mystery that we have no answers to.

And then comes the next question. Assuming Professor Elm's theory is true, _what exactly_ causes this spontaneous evolution? What we all know is that for most pokemon who are living in human captivity, especially under pokemon trainers, tend to be able to evolve earlier than their wild counterparts. In that case, we can safely conclude that battling and getting stronger is what is needed to trigger this sudden and miraculous growth. As to _why_, we have no clue.

There are many ways to trigger evolution in pokemon. Evolutionary stones, certain specific items, the area itself, knowing specific moves, and many others. What I had found out and contributed to the world is that radiation can be a factor to trigger the spontaneous growth and process that is evolution. Maybe the radiation emitted from evolutionary stones was able to activate or deactivate certain genes in certain species of pokemon in a way that the usual method of getting stronger cannot do. It is something that people can start looking into in order to solve the mystery of Pokemon Evolution.

Interesting, right?! Cool, right?! That's what I felt when I first learnt about it too!

_'Shannon, stop daydreaming. You have an appointment with Nova, don't you?'_

"Ah, right!" I exclaimed in shock as I quickly packed up my work desk as fast as I could. Frick! I am supposed to meet Nova in Goldenrod in an hour's time!

* * *

"- and then the girafarigs were like looking at me funny and then suddenly swarming me from out of nowhere to try and cuddle with me or something and then I had to avoid their snapping tails- oh. I just went on with another of my ramblings, did I?"

"It's fine." Nova said with a laugh. "Your stories were pretty interesting anyway. There's nothing much going on at the Ruins of Alph so hearing your adventures is a refreshing change."

"Those are not _adventures!_ They are _horror stories!_" I wailed as I recalled the number of times where I was kidnapped by random wild pokemon while doing fieldwork for Professor Elm. Why is it that even when I'm working in another region some things just don't change?!

"If you really want horror stories I do have a few that I personally experienced due to my line of work." Nova offered as she put down the cup of tea that she had been drinking. We are both chilling out in a small quaint cafe in Goldenrod as we exchanged stories with each other, telling the other what had been going on in our lives ever since we last met. We didn't make any progress regarding finding the other five people who we suspect are like us, but that's okay.

"Do I want to know about them?" I asked cautiously.

"There's this one time when I only just started out. We found a hidden ruin in which the archeological team suspected is a tomb for-"

_TOMB?!_

"I'm not hearing anything I cannot hear anything nah nah nah nah nah~" I did the mature thing and covered my ears with my hands and drowned Nova's voice with my own. I don't like horror stories! Not at all!

Nova only laughed even louder at my childish behaviour.

"Alright, alright, no horror stories." Nova made a teasing reply before her holo caster beeped. Naturally, it got our attention.

"A _text _message from Siebold?" I heard Nova mutter as a slight frown appeared between her eyebrows. "He usually just uses the call function of the holo caster."

"Is anything the matter?" I asked. I also thought that the name Siebold sounds _really _familiar until I remembered just who she is talking about. "And Siebold? As in, the _Kalos Elite Four _Siebold?!"

"Yeah, that one." Nova said with a resigned sigh. "That dramatic man-child. Sometimes I have problems believing that I lost to him during my conference."

"But he's an_ Elite Four!_ It's not everyday you get to battle someone like him!"

"Behind closed doors he's just an overgrown baby." Nova said with a snort as she held her holo caster close to her mouth to reply to Siebold's text message with a voice message. "I'm with a friend at Goldenrod, 3rd avenue, Liz's cafe."

"Wait, Siebold's _coming over?! **He's in Johto?!**_"

"He's here due to work and to represent the Kalos League in a PWL meeting. Said he's bringing along a guest as well. As to who, I have no clue." Nova said with a shrug. "Whatever. It's probably another fellow chef that he met here in Johto. Hopefully his friend's artistic sense isn't as bad as him."

The holo caster beeped again. Nova took another look at the text message and was about to send another reply back in the form of another voice message when a honchkrow flew down and perched itself on the edge of our table.

Our table is situated outdoors, so random wild pokemon that wanders Goldenrod's streets passing us by is commonplace, but this is a honchkrow. You need a dusk stone to evolve a murkrow into a honchkrow and those are not easy to get your hands on. A wild murkrow will need to get extremely lucky to somehow find a dusk stone to evolve itself into a honchkrow.

And that's not all. This honchkrow is holding a piece of paper with its beak and is gesturing for me to take it. A letter for me? From who?

Nova and I shared a hesitant look with each other before I decided to just see what the note has to say.

_'Follow honchkrow. Meet me in the opposite building, fifteenth floor. I have something of grave importance to tell you. Bring your friend along. Don't worry about Siebold, I will inform him of the change. -Grimsley.'_

I stared at the written note, closed my eyes, counted to three, before opening them again. Nope, I did not read the note wrongly.

Grimsley and I had struck an odd friendship ever since we met during Asher's funeral. It's not like we keep in constant contact because Grimsley is a busy man and he had thrown himself into eradicating Team Plasma ever since that day, but we still keep in touch with each other fairly often. I know he had said that he will be in Johto for a while due to work but he never explained further what it is about and I never pried, knowing that it is probably something that I shouldn't know. We do plan to find a day to meet up with each other before he goes back to Unova, I'm just not expecting it to be done in such a manner.

And why does he want to meet with Nova? The only connection between him and Nova is through the excavation that Asher had been a part of. That's not all. _How _does Grimsley know that Siebold _just _contacted her?

I showed the note to Nova. The expression on her face changed to a worried one the moment she saw the note as well. She was about to say something but kept her mouth shut when she saw the honchkrow that is still perching itself on the edge of our table.

Grimsley couldn't have figured out the shared secret that Nova and I have been desperately trying to keep, couldn't he?

"Let's just go." Nova said with a sigh after a brief period of silence. "Two different members of the Elite Four trying to find us at the same time couldn't be a coincidence. Let's just get this over and done with."

I followed her lead and got up from my seat as well. The honchkrow led the way as it walked in front of us instead of flying.

_'This doesn't feel like good news at all, Shannon.'_

_'I know.'_ I replied to Xavier's concerns and glanced at where he is walking beside me. If Grimsley wanted to do a friendly visit all he had to do was to give me a call or text me, not manually tracking my location down and sending his honchkrow to contact me in that manner.

Like Xavier said, whatever it is, it is definitely not good news.

It didn't take us long for honchkrow to lead us into the building Grimsley had stated in his note. It is simply a plain and ordinary hotel that isn't known for being remarkable or anything. We soon got to the fifteenth floor and followed honchkrow until it led us to the door of a specific room, gesturing for us to knock on it.

Here goes nothing.

"Hello, Shannon." Grimsley greeted me when he opened the door and let us in. "And you too, Ms Labelle."

"Call me Nova." Nova greeted Grimsley as they both briefly shook hands. "I have to admit that this sudden meeting caught me by surprise."

"Understandable." Grimsley nodded. "And please just call me Grimsley. Siebold will be arriving with a guest soon, so make yourselves comfortable in the meantime."

"Uh, not that I'm unhappy to see you, Grimsley, but what is this meeting all about?" I asked carefully. Grimsley merely sighed.

"Something of grave importance. All I can say for now is that whether or not the both of you decide to help out after hearing what we have to say, you both have to be sworn into secrecy. If you cannot do that then I suggest that you might want to leave before Siebold and our guest arrive."

"Who is this guest that you are talking about?" Nova inquired, obviously wary of the situation. "Some VIP?"

"Not exactly." Grimsley answered patiently as his honchkrow nestled itself comfortably on the bed and started to preen. "But he's well known in certain circles that the ordinary Joe would not usually be involved in."

Yeah, that doesn't sound ominous. _Not at all._

There's another knock on the door and Grimsley went to open it, revealing Siebold of the Kalos Elite Four and another man whose look doesn't stand out at all. This is the guest?

"Nova! We meet again! Miss me?"

"Not exactly."

"N-Nova!"

"Look." Nova said with a sigh as she gave a sweeping glance towards every occupant in the small hotel room that we are currently gathered in. "While I'm happy to see you, Siebold, this meeting is really starting to give me the creeps. Can we just get this out of the way first?"

"Very well." The unknown man spoke up, catching both our attention. "Shannon Juniper, Nova Labelle, I am Looker, an agent working for the Pokemon World League, and I have a proposal to make."

A-Agent? Pokemon World League? A proposal to make?!

W-Why does this look so much like one of those movie cliche scenes where the plot starts to deepen and things get real?! This certainly spells like bad news to me! Someone, save me! Get me out of here! _SAVE ME!_

* * *

**AN: Credit's got to be given when it's due. The above scientific explanation about pokemon evolution is written after referencing two articles written by others on the net. The two articles are written by Naturalish on and Michael California on escapistmagazine (who is also apparently a PhD human geneticist, so he's a genuine expert). What I did was to reference what they wrote which could possibly explain pokemon evolution if pokemon were indeed real, and I also added my own spin into things after reading what they wrote. Hope this sounds "science-ish" enough for you guys.**

**As always, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Specialisation: Pokemon Migratory Behaviour, Pokemon Biology**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2\. ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3\. ****Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4\. ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5\. ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**

**Grimsley Dandolos, Age: 49, Male, Dark Specialist, Unova Elite Four member**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Bisharp**

**2\. ****Scrafty**

**3\. ****Liepard**

**4\. ****Krookodile**

**5\. ****Sharpedo**

**6\. ****Drapion**

**7\. ****Absol**

**8\. ****Honchkrow**

**9\. ****Houndoom**

**10\. ****Tyranitar**


	10. Chapter 10- Making Decisions

"So what do you think about it?"

"I have no clue." Nova replied as we both talked in private within Nova's quarters since it is located at Azalea, which is closer to Goldenrod. The both of us had asked for some time to think about Looker's offer to join the interpol. Looker only gave us two days to think about the offer because according to him, time is of the essence and the interpol needs to start work soon.

The International Police is a new organisation set up by the PWL only very recently. Right now, not many know of its existence or its purpose. Looker had explained that currently, the interpol is gathering people to join their cause and be its members. Nova and I both happened to be candidates that our respective Regional Leagues recommended thanks to our unique and valuable skill sets, which is why Looker paid us a visit.

What got us concerned was what the interpol will be up against.

The secret that we were let in on by Looker, Grimsley, and Siebold is that PWL actually uses a group of highly trained psychic pokemon to foresee future threats that the PWL needs to deal with in order to maintain the fragile peace of the world. It sounds very outlandish, but the fact is that throughout the past 500 years of the world's history, many threats to the world had been successfully neutralised only because of the warning these psychics had given us. Not only that, the PWL's psychics have a 100% accuracy in their prophecies to date. There comes the problem.

There's a new prophecy, one foretelling that the end of the world is coming soon. That is all the psychics can tell us. There are no other details to it no matter how much they tried to see further into the future.

It sounded absolutely ridiculous but when I calmed down and thought about how Grimsley explained to me how reliant the PWL are on their psychics and the track record they had maintained for _500 years_, I can see why every world leader is so concerned about this new prophecy. This is why the interpol was set up. Their true mission and purpose is to avert the prophecy that is knocking on our doors. The interpol will be an elite task force that is able to handle any and every single thing thrown at them, from busting criminal organisations to salvaging destroyed ecosystems. Any problem related to pokemon, the interpol must be able to tackle it, which means that its members must consist of individuals from various fields in the pokemon world, each experts in their own domain.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think I qualify to be considered as a possible candidate at all. I have no clue on how a police force operates, much less be a part of the interpol, but Grimsley had reassured me that he and the Unova League wouldn't have recommended me if they weren't confident of my capabilities. I felt very honoured that my works had been recognised by the Unova League, that my studies and research actually meant _something_, but the _interpol _is another thing entirely.

Am I really up for it?

There are benefits to joining the interpol, of course. For one, I have greater freedom and access to more resources in whatever I want to study, with the condition being that whatever the PWL needs my help in being the foremost priority. That is not that much of a drawback to me since I am very much interested in studying _anything _related to pokemon, but the interpol is no doubt a dangerous line of work. If it comes to things like taking on Team Plasma, for instance, I'm very much a liability.

Nova had also confided in me that she also felt the temptation to join because through the interpol, she can now freely research any myths and legends of all member regions of the PWL. To her, this is a dream come true because under ordinary circumstances, she would not be able to study most of these myths and legends due to national interests. No region would want a foreigner to poke around the legends that concern their regional legendary and mythical pokemon and find out about their secret. However, as an interpol agent, that would no longer be an issue for Nova because the interpol is granted a lot of freedom and power over the things they need to do in order to quite literally save the world.

Huh, now that I think about it, joining this interpol sounds so much like being a part of a group like the Avengers. World's mightiest heroes or something. Never thought I would ever encounter something like that.

In all honesty, what got Nova and I hesitating is not just because of the danger being a part of the interpol will bring about. It's also about commitment. Once we are in, it will take a long while for us to get out of it because saving the world is not something that can be completed anytime soon. That's what we are mulling about right now, whether we really want to commit to this.

"I'm joining."

Nova was the first to come to a decision, breaking the silence. Her explanation was that being a part of the interpol is something that aligns with her interest, because she can now freely study and find out more about the world's history. Not only that, we now have a way to travel across the world and hopefully meet the other five people who we suspect are like us, people who reincarnated here into this world by some sort of divine intervention. If we want to find out the real reason behind why we are here, then maybe it is really necessary for all seven of us to gather.

That last point was the final push for me to come to my own decision. If there's one thing that I really want to know, it will be the reason for my unnatural existence. If joining the interpol might give me the answer that I seek, then I will join, because I don't have any other better options. Even if I never managed to find an answer my time in the interpol will not be wasted, because I will not only be able to study and research on many things during my travels, I will also get to meet and learn from many renowned experts that I would usually have no chance of meeting. I had already learned a lot about Pokemon Evolution in my short time with Professor Elm, what if I meet the other regional professors as well? How much more can I learn and study?

The benefits do outweigh the cons no matter how I thought about it, and that is also not taking into account the extremely lucrative pay that Looker offered. It is a lot more than I will earn as another ordinary researcher. I am still young, I have time to spare and do ridiculous things that I will not be able to do when I'm older. I can afford to spend a few hectic years in an international organisation and whether I will stay on after that, I will see from there.

The more I think about it, the more tempted I am in accepting Looker's invitation. Grimsley's encouragement had helped too when he mentioned that even Alder was confident that I am qualified to represent Unova in the interpol. If even my Regional Champion had such faith in me, I guess I could really give this a try.

Now, the only thing left to do is to inform uncle and Aurea about my decision. I don't think they will be against it, but I really have no idea how they would react to this news.

I am but an ordinary researcher. Hopefully, I will live up to the expectations everyone placed on me.

* * *

Looker sent me several documents to look over the moment I confirmed my intentions to join his interpol group through a phone call. There are secrets that I will need to be let in on in order to fully utilise my expertise for the sake of the interpol. Among those, two caught my immediate attention. One because of what it entails, another because it is an urgent matter that Looker needs my help in.

The phenomenon known as Mega Evolution, and the contraption known as the M2 Bind.

Mega Evolution is still a mysterious phenomenon that according to what I had read thus far, nobody had found out the truth behind how it really works, just that they do. Historical records and findings pointed its origins to Kalos, Nova's homeland, and Nova had admitted when I asked that she was made known of this highly confidential secret even before she met me. In fact, she possessed a Key Stone and Mega Stone herself since she is one of Gurkinn's successors, whoever Gurkinn is. I will find out more about him later when I have the time.

Nova does have her own speculations about how Mega Evolution really works thanks to a _BRAND NEW SPECIES_ of pokemon that she had found! A small little green blob that Nova nicknamed as Blob apparently had the ability to speak with Nova through telepathy and also hold the knowledge of how Mega Evolution really works. Or at least that's what it claims. Blob is very adamant on not letting another soul know about its existence and it took me many pleading and belly rubs for it to allow me to be let in on the secret of its existence.

Now, if only Blob is not so disagreeable on everything, that would be great. I really want to start studying it right away but every time I tried to do that it simply tried to smack me around. I'm fairly certain it hates me by now.

As much as I would like to dive into uncovering the secrets of Mega Evolution or study Blob right away, I cannot do so because right now Looker needs my immediate help in finding a way to destroy an equipment known as the M2 Bind. This is where things start to get crazy again.

According to Looker, somebody had secretly leaked out a huge amount of information on Team Rocket to Lance. The leaks come with a very detailed blueprint of this piece of machinery known as the M2 Bind, something created to specifically restrain and allow full control over _Mewtwo_.

Now, I may not be a true fan of pokemon in my previous life and I don't remember much about it, but there's no way I am going to forget about Mewtwo anytime soon. Mewtwo, as far as I could remember, is an antagonist or sorts in every type of adaptation of the pokemon series. It's definitely a violent and extremely powerful pokemon and when its existence is now a _reality_, it became extremely obvious to me that Team Rocket absolutely cannot be allowed to be able to control it, which is why finding a way to destroy the M2 Bind is now a matter of utmost priority.

From what I can see, the M2 Bind works by intercepting and controlling Mewtwo's nervous system by having high-density microwave transceivers that can directly access Mewtwo's brain. By intercepting and controlling the signals sent from Mewtwo's brain to its body and vice versa, that is how the M2 Bind is able to control Mewtwo in a nutshell.

Pokemon nervous system is an aspect of Pokemon Biology, which is my area of specialisation. I am no engineer. While I can do nothing about finding out ways to physically destroy the machine, I can definitely offer opinions on how we could possibly interfere in how the M2 Bind controls Mewtwo via its nervous system without harming Mewtwo itself. I know it will most possibly be a violent pokemon, but considering the circumstances of its birth from what little I can remember, I cannot bring myself to blame it for its behaviour. Mewtwo is a victim as well.

I don't know what I can really help in as an ordinary researcher, but I will do my best to use my knowledge for the good of the world.

Starting from finding a way to free an innocent pokemon from its shackles.

* * *

**AN: The way the M2 Bind works in my story was inspired by how the NerveGear works in SAO. Just saying in case you guys were interested in knowing.**

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Specialisation: Pokemon Migratory Behaviour, Pokemon Biology**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2\. ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3\. ****Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4\. ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5\. ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**


	11. Chapter 11- Meeting Big Shots

"I-Is this the right building?"

"It has to be." Nova insisted. "It's the exact same address Looker had given us. And look, the PWL logo is here too."

"R-Right." I replied as we both walked into the building in Olivine that Looker had told us to gather at today morning after we told him that we accepted his offer to join the interpol. After registering with the receptionist, we were both told to head to the fifth floor and report to Room 518.

"What is this crazy layout?!"

I cannot help but scream at the number of twists and turns that Nova and I had to navigate through upon reaching the fifth floor. Trying to find just one room on the fifth floor is CONFUSING! Who on earth designed the floor plan?! This is worse than those IKEA showrooms back in my previous world! I cannot find a way out at all!

"We are lost. We _have _to be." I lamented while walking beside Nova. As usual, Nova is as cool as a cucumber, totally unbothered about the fact that we had been going about in circles for a while now.

"We won't get lost, not with me around." Nova said in a comforting tone as she led the way. "I'm sure that Room 518 is in this direction."

After walking around for a few more minutes, we finally reached the door of a room. A room without anything to indicate if this is indeed Room 518 or not.

"This is Room 518?" I asked as I turned to Nova for confirmation, who only shrugged.

"According to what I remembered from the floor plan that we saw near the lift just now. Why don't we just enter and find out?"

Taking a gulp, I slowly pressed down on the handle and pushed the door open and poked my head inside.

"U-Um, is this- oh, Looker! So we are in the right place after all!"

We did it! We found the right room! Nova's photographic memory is a really wonderful thing!

"I told you that there was no way we could get lost with me around." Nova huffed in amusement, shaking her head at my words.

"But Nova, this place is so confusing!" I defended my point as best as I could. This place is **_confusing_**, there's no convincing me otherwise!

Looker stood up from his seat as he introduced us to the other three people in the room that were here before us.

"Guys, meet Shannon Juniper and Nova Labelle." Looker introduced us before gesturing to the three other people in the room, who had stood up as well upon Looker's words. A big and scary looking man with tanned skin, a fair-skinned woman with long dark blue hair tied in a low ponytail, and a little girl with blonde hair and emerald green eyes.

"Shannon, Nova, these are the people that you will be working with for the foreseeable future. From right to left, Akamu Kahale, Marianne Kahale, Velda Vera. There's one more person who we will meet up with now. Together, we will be the very first team that will make up the interpol. Vel, if you will."

The girl named Velda keyed in something into her xtransceiver upon Looker's prompting. Someone picked up her call and I did not pay attention to their conversation because I felt it, that something was approaching.

I looked around, spotting nothing else other than us. When I turned my attention back to Velda all I managed to catch a glimpse of was something green and white and then all of a sudden, we are in a freaking _forest_.

Naturally, I freaked out.

"AHH! WHERE ARE WE?! DID WE JUST GOT OURSELVES KIDNAPPED?! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT WHEN I DROPPED THE MUG THIS MORNING! I WOKE UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED TODAY! WHERE ARE WE EVEN?!"

"Shannon, _calm down!_" Nova shook me lightly, probably exasperated by my screaming, but I was too freaked out to be able to even listen to anything she said.

"Yes, please do calm down." Looker sighed. "We are still at Olivine. This is Olivine's West Forest."

Wait, what? West Forest of Olivine? _That _forest? The forest where wild _stantlers _had been spotted to live in?

This is **AMAZING!**

"Oh, that mysterious piece of private land that is said to be the home of many wild and exotic pokemon in the Johto region?" I quickly asked, excited that I actually have the chance to visit the West Forest, which while is a forest, is technically private land. The mysterious owner of the forest had also never allowed anyone else to enter it and anyone that trespassed the forest without permission had been promptly tossed out of there shaking in fear and they all swore to never speak of what they went through.

At least, that's what I heard about the West Forest from Professor Elm. The funnier thing is that this plot of land wasn't originally a forest. It was simply a desolate piece of land and a forest suddenly just appeared about a year ago after the new owner of the land bought it over at an exorbitant price. Nobody knows who the owner of the West Forest is and how he grew a literal forest from out of nowhere in such a short amount of time, but what the locals do know is to never approach it unless you want to be mauled by an angry luxray or kicked out of here by a grumpy hypno. _Luxray_, in _Johto_. Just what kind of migratory behaviour would lead to having a **_luxray _**in Johto?

I **_have _**to study this!

"I had heard from Professor Elm that there are stantlers here too! _Stantlers!_ Do you know where I can find-"

My ramblings were cut off when Mary tried her best to hold in her chuckle but failed. Even Akamu is visibly trying to not laugh at my childish behaviour and the only thing I could do is to rub the back of my head sheepishly.

"S-Sorry! It's just that… I… Uh…"

Looker was the one who came to my rescue and dispelled the awkwardness.

"You can ask Volkner for permission to tour this place all you like after we are done with our work here. This place belongs to him after all. But for now, we have other pressing matters to deal with."

Wait, _Volkner? _The one person Nova and I had been trying to find because we suspected that he is like us?

"Wait, this place belongs to _Volkner?!_ Like, the _entire _place?!"

My question went unanswered as the door to the lighthouse-looking cottage in front of us swung open and Looker entered it. The rest of them followed suit, leaving Nova and I behind. I shared a glance with Nova, who is also giving me the same look. We both know what the other is thinking just by that alone.

This is the only chance we have to see if our suspicions are true, that like us, Volkner is a fellow reincarnated soul. There's no way that we are letting this chance slip by us.

Nova walked forward and entered the cottage and so did I. How are we going to go about asking Volkner if he really is like us? Ask if he knew about America like what I did to Nova?

Then again, that's the only thing I can do to know for sure, isn't it?

* * *

As I had learnt before coming over from this meeting, the interpol are made up of people each unique in their own way.

I shan't go into detail about Nova and Looker, because I had already known Nova very well and Looker on the other hand, is a complete mystery to most of us. Who should we start from… how about the youngest among us?

The youngest member of the interpol is Velda Vera, a thirteen year old girl from Hoenn. She is the heiress of the Vera Farm, the largest and most ancient pokemon breeding farm in the region. Her family's history is even older than Hoenn itself. From what little I know, her family is considered somewhat of a royalty within Hoenn, making her some sort of princess (technically). Twice, she had helped the Hoenn League in pinpointing Team Magma and Team Aqua main bases of operations, resulting in the subsequent extermination of the two terrorist groups in the region. She had also emerged as the runner up in the most recent Ever Grande Conference, which is a further testament in her skills as a trainer. She's only _thirteen_ and yet she had accomplished things that even adults had never done.

Next up is Akamu Kahale and Marianne "Mary" Kahale. They are husband and wife and are from the Alola region. They used to work under Looker as fellow agents of the PWL but had retired from service eight years ago. Looker had invited them to the interpol just to help solve this Rocket crisis although from the looks of things, Akamu and Marianne doesn't seem to like Looker all that much for whatever reasons. They probably had some sort of history with each other.

Last but not least, the person who Nova and I never thought we would find here in Johto of all places.

Volkner Tide, the previous and 42nd Gym Leader of Sunyshore. He is the reason why Team Galactic is still in hiding and biding their time to make a comeback. He was the strongest Gym Leader in Sinnoh until his retirement. He had also made many contributions to Sinnoh and Sunyshore which are too long to properly list. All I know is that he is adored by Sinnohans, especially Sunyshore citizens, for what he helped do to improve their lives.

And if what Nova and I suspect is true, he may very well be the holder of Leader, Incarnate of Lightning as according to the stone tablet.

Nova and I would have liked to find an opportunity to have a private word with Volkner and ask him about a random fact from our previous world but it wasn't to be, since Mary and I had left the meeting early to meet with the "tech team" as Volkner dubbed it. They are fellow scientists and inventors who like us, are gathered together to devise a way to destroy the supposedly indestructible M2 Bind and free Mewtwo from its restraints.

I still have no idea if this is really a good idea considering this is _Mewtwo_, but it's better than having the pokemon under the control of Team Rocket.

The tech team welcomed us warmly the moment we announced our presence in Volkner's garage, which the tech team had already converted into a temporary lab or sorts. Various renowned experts are present, which amazed me because I would not have met most of these people under normal circumstances. I see Professor Elm, my mentor during my stay in the Johto region. There is Professor Samuel Oak, Professor Samson Oak, Blaine, Fuji, and Bill. With me and Mary joining them, the tech team is now eight man strong, composed of some of the most brilliant minds in the world.

If there's a team that has a shot in destroying the M2 Bind, it's us.

It is also from these people that I had a clearer picture on how the Rocket crisis evolved into what it is today. As it turns out, Team Rocket wasn't originally an organisation like how it is today. If one has to be technical, Team Rocket was originally known as an organisation named SKIP. SKIP was founded at a period in time more than twenty years ago where corruption is rampant and entrenched within the Indigo Government. Most of the corrupt politicians in office back then were Johtonian politicians who exploited Kanto for their own gains and as a result, tension between Kanto and Johto were running high. Kanto's state of poverty was also no laughing matter back in the days. The founders of SKIP are Kantonians who do not wish to see their homeland being exploited any further and so they founded SKIP, which is an acronym for Separation of Kanto from Indigo through Peace. Despite the unfair treatment Kanto went through, the members of SKIP are insistent on having a peaceful separation because the last thing they wanted was an all-out war between Kanto and Johto.

SKIP has many members who are experts in various fields, be it pokemon related or not. As long as they are Kantonian and share SKIP's beliefs in wanting a peaceful separation, they will be warmly welcomed into SKIP. Even notable figures like Professor Samuel Oak, Agatha, Blaine, Fuji, and Bill were a part of SKIP. Meeting them here was the reason why I knew so much about SKIP in the first place.

And apparently, Giovanni was one of SKIP's leaders too.

Things took a turn for the worst when a SKIP member was caught by the then Indigo President, Kain Briggs, who is also still in power today. SKIP was an underground organisation because their work directly undermines and threatens Indigo's interests. If Kanto were to separate from Indigo, then Indigo is no more. Thus, in Indigo's eyes, SKIP's existence cannot be allowed to continue. Under orders from President Briggs, the entirety of SKIP was eradicated in a single night. Many had died, but there were also a small number of people who escaped with their lives intact and managed to keep their involvement with SKIP a secret. After that day, SKIP was officially disbanded.

However, Giovanni did not give up. From what we now know Giovanni had salvaged the remnants of SKIP's works and rebuilt it, this time under the name of Team Rocket. The Mewtwo Project was one of many of SKIP's unfinished projects and which Giovanni had somehow made a reality recently. Giovanni's goals remain the same, which is the separation of Kanto from Indigo, but his methods have changed. This time, he is aiming to make Kanto's separation from Indigo a reality through a declaration of war on Johto, who he views as Kanto's oppressors and the reason for Kanto's continued state of poverty. He is planning to start campaigning for Kanto's separation through a massacre in the Johto region, a belief that SKIP did not advocate.

This is how the Rocket mess really started and how it evolved into what it is today.

The truthful admission about SKIP, Giovanni, and Team Rocket from the former SKIP members aside, we got into discussion fairly quickly the moment we were all gathered. For one, we all quickly came to a consensus that trying to destroy the M2 Bind from the outside is never going to work. The M2 Bind is built to be just that strong. As such, there's only one way left to go about doing this task, and that is to destroy it from within. We would have scratched our heads as to the how if Volkner didn't provide an ingenious idea before he directed Mary and I to the tech team.

Volkner has a rotom, a very unique and rare species of pokemon. It has an electric-ghost typing and is known as the 'Plasma Pokemon'. True to its description, its body is made entirely out of plasma and because of that, it is able to easily possess different types of electric appliances and transform its typing based on what it possesses. Its unique ability of entering and taking control of machines using its plasma body might be just what we need to destroy the M2 Bind from within.

However, accomplishing such a feat is also not as easy as it sounds. Volkner had cautioned us previously that the rotom species usually possess simple electronic appliances or machinery because while they indeed have the ability to infiltrate and control such contraptions, the control is largely limited to very basic movements or actions. This is why the typical rotom is only seen to possess your everyday electrical appliances like washing machine, oven, fan, fridge, or a lawn mower, if anyone ever catches a glimpse of this rare pokemon at all. Volkner is confident that with enough practice, his rotom is skilled enough to be able to infiltrate and control a machine as complex as the M2 Bind, but that's also where the second problem surfaces.

Skilled as it is, there's no way Volkner's rotom can successfully infiltrate and dismantle the M2 Bind on its very first try. It needs something to practice on. So where on earth are we going to get a machine as complex and similar as the M2 Bind for Volkner's rotom to practice destroying it from within?

Mary came to a quick decision upon knowing this dilemma. She proposed that for Volkner's rotom to familiarise itself with possessing and controlling the M2 Bind, we should recreate another M2 Bind just for that very purpose. To recreate such a monstrous tool leaves a very bad taste in all our mouths, but what Mary suggested does hold some merit. We don't really have much of a choice left.

There is also a downside to this plan. As mentioned earlier, rotom is a sentient being almost entirely made up of plasma. Plasma is a _very _good conductor of electricity, which means that simply by existing, the rotom carries around an absurdly large discharge of electricity. The M2 Bind controls Mewtwo by directly interfering with its nervous systems by intercepting and altering the signals sent between its brain and body using a very special type of nervous transmitter that is poked into its body. If rotom's electrical discharge somehow flowed into these transmitters and from there, directly invading Mewtwo's nervous system, Mewtwo will be fried from within. We might succeed in destroying the M2 Bind, but fail to rescue Mewtwo out of it alive.

Still, Volkner's rotom remains the most viable option that we have. What we can do is to build a perfect replica of the M2 Bind based on the blueprints the informant leaked to Indigo and then teach rotom how to destroy it properly from within without harming Mewtwo. That's really all we can do for now.

Of course, we would always need to have a Plan B should things take a turn for the worst. The only other alternative that we can think of is to overload the M2 Bind with an enormous discharge of electricity but similar to the downside of Plan A, too huge a discharge might kill Mewtwo instead if the electricity somehow finds its way into Mewtwo's nervous system through the M2 Bind stuck on its body. We will need to find a very careful balance of discharge of electrical current that is within the parameters of what Mewtwo's body can theoretically withstand and also strong enough to overload the M2 Bind. That is the second thing that we will need to work on and also the task that I am supposed to help with due to my knowledge on Pokemon Biology.

The tech team further split ourselves into two teams. Team A consists of Mary and Bill, our engineers and inventors. They will be the ones to replicate and recreate the M2 Bind as soon as possible. Team B consists of the rest of us, who will calculate the range of electrical current Mewtwo is most likely able to withstand without coming out crippled or dead. From there, we will create a dummy object whose electrical tolerance is built to be as close to Mewtwo as possible and stuff it into the M2 Bind Mary and Bill will recreate, and then have rotom practice dismantling the M2 Bind that way. If the dummy came out in anything less than one piece in the process, then rotom will know that it had emitted too large a discharge of electricity while possessing and dismantling the M2 Bind from within.

As of now, what we members of the tech team can do is to help the combatants to be as well-equipped and prepared as possible. Saving the world is not something that can be done overnight, it is a step by step process.

I can only hope that the steps we took are big enough to make a substantial difference.

* * *

**AN: The way the M2 Bind works in my story was inspired by how the NerveGear works in SAO. Just saying in case you guys were interested in knowing.**

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Specialisation: Pokemon Migratory Behaviour, Pokemon Biology**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1\. ****Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2\. ****Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3\. ****Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4\. ****Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5\. ****Carracosta (Koopa), female**


	12. Chapter 12- Underway

So… how do I put this? I have no idea where to start.

Right, then let's start from where everything went wrong, or right. I have no idea what is really going on either.

Firstly, we found Volkner and confirmed that he is indeed like Nova and I. It is supposed to be a _Yay!_ occasion, right? Oh, not only that, we found the Traveller and the Guardian too! As fate would have it, Velda is the Traveller, Akamu is the Guardian. All in all it is _supposed _to be a cause for celebration.

From then on, it's like we struck a windfall. Velda and Looker went to Johto to do some investigation about a certain Team Rocket member and when they returned, Velda came back telling us that she found the Flier. Like, _wow_, just in time too. Everything just seems to fall into place _perfectly_ like pieces of a puzzle coming together.

I was stuck in the laboratory for the most part, finding ways to aid in the creation of the M2 Bind and figuring out an estimated safe voltage in which Mewtwo can safely survive. I shall not bore you with the nitty gritty details so I shan't explain it here. Still, I managed to find time to slink out with my fellow reincarnated souls to go and meet the Flier one fine evening, who turns out to be a sixteen year old female Ranger from Johto's most elite Ranger regiment. Her name is Skye, Skye Bale. Oh, and have I mentioned that she is also Falkner's little sister? That explains the flying affinity.

So… yeah. That was what happened in a nutshell.

Remember how I said everything went wrong, or right? If what I said earlier was what everything went right, then what happened thereafter is where everything went _wrong_. Let me explain it for you.

In short, the interpol sent Nova to investigate the myths and legends of the Winged Mirages, also known as the Thu-Fi-Zer or Zapmolticuno or Legendary Birds, depending on which you are familiar with. Nova, being the extremely capable historian that she is, pieced out what we needed in a matter of days. Looker then sent Nova, Velda, and Akamu to each investigate the individual nests of each legendary bird using the new information that we now know thanks to Nova. I'm not too sure how Nova's investigations had helped because I wasn't involved in that affair but what I do know is that when Nova, Velda, and Akamu returned, none of them bore any good news.

The Legendary Birds are _missing_. While that usually isn't much of a concern because the Legendary Birds are usually flying outside the Kanto region in the first place, it was also a fact that the Legendary Birds could be summoned back to their nests in Kanto (according to Nova's investigations) through solving some sort of ancient and mystical puzzle located at each of their nests. The three of them had solved it, but when they finally reached the roosting place of the Legendary Birds they found nothing. Nothing but the remnants of a scene of a very violent battle at each of their nests that had taken place very recently and that is definitely not good news.

Someone, or someones, had reached the nests before we did. Best case scenario, the Legendary Birds are fine and had escaped whoever had tried to do them harm. Worst case, they had all been captured somehow, and they might be captured by _Team Rocket_, because they had the same information that Nova used to deduce the method to summon the Legendary Birds back to their respective nests.

If there's one thing that is consistent among all three locations, it will be the aftermath of the battle being fought at each nest and the large amount of feathers that had been shedded there. Nova, Velda, and Akamu had taken many pictures at each location for further investigation on the interpol's part and also brought back quite a handful of feathers that they gathered, hoping that it may aid in the investigations. That is where I come in, to see if I can glean any useful information about the Legendary Birds from the feathers the three of them had brought back.

According to Nova, the legends of the Winged Mirages talked about an unspeakable power when the three of them come together, so that is the direction in which my research took. I have help, of course, because we are on a tight deadline to solve this Rocket crisis. It helps that most of the work regarding the M2 Bind had been mostly finalised or completed, which gives us some breathing space to work with.

"Interesting. Feathers from the Legendary Birds. I never thought I would see them in my lifetime."

Yeah, when **_the _**Professor Oak is interested in this research, it's not hard to see how valuable this research is.

"The feathers from each of the birds have some sort of resonance to each other when placed close to each other." Professor Elm reminded us. That was something we found out shortly we received the feathers, (secretly) thanks to Volkner.

Why the (secretly)? Well, it goes something like this.

_"Psst. Hey, four eyes, c'mere."_

_"What is it?" I asked in a whisper as my eyes darted around, trying to see if we would be overheard. "If it's regarding our shared secret, not now, there might be people watching."_

_Volkner pointedly ignored my concern._

_"It took me a while, but I think I remembered why the name Zapmolticuno rings such a familiar bell. I'm pretty sure I read about it somewhere before in the Pokemon Adventures manga."_

_"It is a **real **thing? Like **legit?**"_

_"As far as I could remember, yeah. Alright, listen, from what I could remember in that manga series the three birds could combine with each other to form a single new entity. That entity is the Zapmolticuno. As to the **how**, I remembered that it was using the power of all eight Kanto badges, which sounds damn bullshit to me when this is now reality but it is what it is. That is all I know."_

_"So, combination of the three birds? What is this? Some Dragonball Z fusion?"_

_"I have no damn clue, four eyes."_

Yeah, that was our conversation. So, with a little nudge here and a little push over there, I managed to herd my fellow researchers to conduct our research in that direction and it bore some results. Now, we have reasons to believe that the three birds could indeed combine to form a single new entity. In fact, there are noticeable similarities in their DNA makeup, leading some of us to believe that the three of them may have a common ancestor, as much as it is absurd to think that _Legendary Pokemon_ had _ancestors_, or that they may be one single being to begin with.

The thing is, we have no idea on how they are supposed to become "whole" again, if the legends are to be believed. It is also not possible for them to fuse together using the "power of the badges" as stated by Volkner because the material used to craft gym badges are not anything special at all. It won't have any effect.

So, what? What is missing? What is it that we lack to crack the secrets behind the Legendary Birds? If the worst has already come to pass, that Team Rocket has already gotten their hands on the Legendary Birds somehow, then we _need _to solve this mystery.

"It's barely noticeable when we only use one feather from each bird, but if we place the pile of feathers from each of them near the others, it's easy to observe that they emit some kind of special energy, a new type of energy. Problem is, if the legend is to be believed, that they could be merged to form a single new entity, then we would need some sort of catalyst to trigger that process."

"And there's no clue on what that catalyst may be." Professor Oak added with a sigh. "We might have just hit a dead end here."

The lab fell into a temporary silence, not knowing how to deal with this unsolvable mystery.

"Let's put this aside for now and move onto other matters, like the M2 Bind. No use wasting time on something that we are stuck on and have no answers to."

Blaine's words got us to reluctantly put the matter of the Legendary Birds aside for now because he is right. Staying still and staring at the feathers will be wasting precious time, time that we could better use to find a way to tear the M2 Bind apart from within without harming Mewtwo.

The only thing that I can hope is that if the Legendary Birds were indeed captured, it wasn't by Team Rocket's hands.

* * *

"So how's it been?"

It's past dinner time by now. I happened to chance upon Nova, Velda, and Akamu having a private conversation at a corner of Volkner's house, so I decided to join in and catch up on what had been going on in each other's lives.

These days, members of the interpol and the research team are almost always together at Volkner's West Forest the entire day. That is, if the other interpol members are not sent out for missions or stuff like that. It is also during this period of time that we get to know each other better not only as fellow colleagues, but also forge a closer bond to each other through our shared secret.

"We were comparing whose experience is the crazier one." Velda told me the moment I joined in their conversation. "After Akamu told me what we went through we realised Nova had severely understated what she meant by solving a _puzzle_."

"That wasn't my fault. I just translated the ancient text word for word." Nova argued, to which Akamu shook his head.

"I had to eat fire, quite literally." Akamu backed Velda up without delay. I simply stared at Akamu. _Eat fire?_

"Speaking about that, how are you even alive from trying to eat fire?" Velda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Surprisingly enough, the fire didn't burn." Akamu replied with a shrug. "Don't ask me why. I myself just chalked it up to Pokemon logic and left it at that."

"Right…" Nova trailed off with a slow nod, as if trying very hard to believe that there is _fire that didn't burn_. I would point out that such a thing is actually possible because all you have to do is to look at the ponyta and rapidash species. Their riders would never get burned by their flames unless the pokemon in question do not want them riding their backs. As to why and how that is the case, researchers worldwide believed that it is likely because-

Unfortunately, my train of thoughts were disrupted when Velda continued the conversation.

"I got lucky that I did not need to solve any puzzle because Zapdos had shifted its own nest away from the original and into the Power Plant. Even then, did you _see _my hair?" Velda said as she showed us the ends of her long blonde hair, which is a little frazzled from its usual straight silky appearance. "The amount of static at Zapdos' nest is insane. Sometimes I can still feel the static lingering on my hair even after so long."

"What is your puzzle though?" I asked curiously. If Akamu had to_ eat fire_ to reach Moltres' nest, I really am not sure if I want to know what Velda is supposed to do if Zapdos hadn't shifted its nest to the Power Plant on its own volition.

"My portion of the riddle said _Spark your instinct, call down the storms atop Mt Thunder to strike what most defies all sense of your reason."_ Velda informed me with a shrug. "Mt Thunder is the mountain where Rock Tunnel now lies, which means Zapdos used to roost there and whatever puzzle that I was supposed to solve is located there. Never visited it though, because there wasn't a need to after checking its new nest at the Power Plant."

"But to _strike what most defies all sense of reason?"_ I asked, a little puzzled. "What would most defy all sense of your reason?"

"I _do _have a theory…" Velda trailed off. "But my pokemon had been going stir crazy trying to protect me ever since I suggested doing such a thing atop Mt Thunder to really check if Zapdos had indeed been captured or had simply escaped to who-knows-where. Because of that I wasn't able to go atop Mt Thunder, because my pokemon simply refused to bring me up there."

"And what is that theory?" Nova inquired curiously.

"Actually, seeing that Akamu eating fire actually worked, I now have greater reasons to believe that my theory is sound. In my interpretation, what would most defy all sense of reason is to call the lightning to strike _yourself_. Doing that would really defy all sense of reason."

We all fell into silence after hearing Velda's reasoning. I tried to think of a better way to defy all reason but I could not think of anything to argue otherwise.

"Everyone knows that getting striked by lightning would mean certain death, so doing that in order to summon Zapdos would really be defying all sense of reason because you want to be _alive _to see it flying back with your own eyes." Akamu said slowly as he tried to digest this news. "Now, I feel that I'm the lucky one. Zapdos' puzzle suddenly seems so much harder."

"On hindsight, I shouldn't have told my pokemon that I might be trying to do something as stupid as _calling a lightning bolt down to strike me_." Velda mused before giving a soft sigh. "If I did not do so, I might at least be able to go atop Mt Thunder to have a look and see what it really is like. Now my pokemon won't even agree to help bring me up to Mt Thunder no matter how hard I tried and for some reason they went to overprotective mode all over again."

Velda's hands gestured to her surroundings. True enough, most of her smaller sized pokemon are either lurking around nearby or simply sticking right next to their trainer. I see an espeon, a pachirisu, a scizor, a banette, a gengar, and… **_AN ABSOL!_**

"You have an ABSOL?!" I cannot help but exclaim in excitement. The absol gave me a very ugly scowl from the sudden increase in volume, no thanks to me, and shifted itself such that it is now hiding itself behind its trainer.

"Yup, meet Kel." Velda said affectionately as her hand went to pat absol's head. "The first time I met her she was risking her life trying to save me and an acquaintance of mine near Meteor Falls using her disaster predicting ability. We were total strangers back then, but she still did it anyway. She ended up following me after that even if she never said why."

"What kind of disaster did your absol save you from?" I asked in curiosity.

"Rockslide. Those are nasty."

"Agreed." Akamu said with a nod of his head. "Rockslides are never good news."

"So does Hoenn use absols to predict natural disasters? How does it work?" I pressed on with my questions, eager to learn more about this elusive species of pokemon that I would not have a chance to see with my own eyes under ordinary circumstances. Velda narrowed her eyes a little in thought before giving me another shrug.

"Sorry, but I am not intimately familiar with how the Hoenn forces work other than the LSDF, and the LSDF are not really involved in disaster prediction, that is something that our Rangers would do, so I cannot say for sure."

"LSDF?"

"Local Security Defense Force. To put it simply they are our region's police force, just with a fancier name."

"Can I… study your absol when we have the time?" I asked hopefully, only for Velda's absol to give me a loud shriek of warning that had us all jumping out of our seats. The scowl on its face only got uglier.

"Relax Kel, she was simply asking a question." Velda immediately tried to placate her absol, who only sent me doubtful looks and a menacing glare. The pachirisu perching on Velda's shoulder openly sniggered. The gengar and the banette just outright cackled and laughed for reasons unknown to us.

"Sorry, Shannon, but I don't think Kel is open to the idea."

"It's fine!" I quickly waved it off with frantic waves of my hands. Oh well, I might just have to capture an absol on my own if I ever want to study their species. Maybe Grimsley may have connections that might allow me to get one?

"That reminds me. Akamu, had dusknoir been giving you troubles?"

"Huh? Not really. Nothing that my team and I couldn't handle." Akamu replied with a shake of his head. "He's stubborn, I give him that, but he soon learnt that he's not the biggest fish in the pond after I granted him his wish of challenging Victory Road solo. He didn't last three minutes out there."

"Makes me wonder who's supposed to be the one with a ghost affinity here." Velda said dryly, which elicited amused chuckles from Nova and Akamu. Upon seeing my confused looks, Nova quickly explained.

"Velda transferred possession of a dusknoir from her to Akamu. Velda was having problems trying to get dusknoir to listen so Akamu took it off her hands."

"Dusknoir will grow to be a powerful member of my team once I get rid of its ego. Its style of battling will complement very well with my team." Akamu added before taking a pause, as if remembering something. He took out a pokeball from his pocket.

"I caught a rhyperior in Victory Road, figured that you might want it in replacement of your dusknoir."

"A RHYPERIOR?! A **_WILD _**ONE?!" I screamed, only to quickly cover my mouth when I realised I had been screaming.

"Yes, it surprised me too when I first met it." Akamu said nonchalantly, as if he didn't just catch a wild **_rhyperior_** and offered it to someone else just like that. Those are super powerful and rare! They are worth… I don't even _know _how much! But they are definitely worth a lot on the market if you put it up for trade or auction!

No, the more important thing is, _HOW DID A WILD RHYDON MANAGED TO EVOLVE INTO A RHYPERIOR UNDER ITS OWN POWER?!_ Such a thing is supposed to be close to impossible for wild rhydons!

"Thanks, Akamu, but I… I don't know if I want another rock-ground type on my team." Velda politely declined the offer. "I already have a flygon, swampert, and nidoqueen as ground types and I have a cradily and a tyranitar as rock types. My team will be a little unbalanced if I add a rhyperior into the mix."

"W-What?! Flygon, swampert, CRADILY AND **_TYRANITAR?!_**" I nearly fainted at the number of rare pokemon Velda has on her team. H-How did she manage to get her hands on so many rare pokemon?! Is this the world of the rich that I will never know or understand? Oh, Aurea, uncle, did you hear that? A _cradily _and a _tyranitar! _The things that I will do to study even one of their species! I might even sell my kidney just to do that!

"Chill, Shannon. Velda's family deals with pokemon breeding, remember? It shouldn't come as a surprise that she will have rare pokemon on her team." Nova helpfully reminded me as she patted me on my shoulder, although she failed in hiding her laughter.

"If you think those are rare, you might want to know that I have a lapras named Chill." Velda added with a cheeky smirk.

_L-LAPRAS?! _Oh sweet Jesus, what I will give to study one of those!

"Just take the rhyperior, Velda." Akamu put the teasing to a stop when he brought the topic of the conversation back to the rhyperior. "Even if you do not plan on permanently having it on your team, it is worth a lot. You can use it to trade for a pokemon that caught your eye somewhere down the road."

"That… sounds like a great idea. I still need some experience in handling certain rarer species of pokemon that are not commonly found if I want to help out and take over the family business someday. Or if Dad wants it, I might just send it over to him. Thanks, Akamu." Velda said as she accepted the pokeball Akamu held out and pocketed it. Wait, family business? That's right! Velda's family deals with pokemon breeding and has one of the largest pokemon farms in Hoenn! Maybe I could-

"Hey Velda, could I come over to your family's farm one day and study the pokemon there? Please? _Please please please please-"_

"Yeah, I mean, sure." Velda replied with a blink of her eyes. "As long as you don't provoke or anger them I don't see why not."

"Weren't you going on and on about the wild stantlers living here in Volkner's West Forest? Mary and I spotted a few of them recently and from the looks of it, they are not as wary of humans than those from other places in the wild. They actually allowed us to feed them berries right from our hands." Akamu mentioned offhandedly as he pointed in a certain direction where he had probably met those stantlers. Ah! That's right! _The stantlers!_ I was supposed to observe them in my free time!

"And if you are lucky enough you might be able to spot some of Jasmine's steel types roaming around. They look crazily powerful, so much that I don't even want to go near them. And don't get me started on Volkner's electric types." Nova added. Steel types? Those are naturally rare to encounter in the wild! And I'm _very sure _Jasmine has quite a number of super rare steel types!

"Ahhh! So many things to do! So little time!" I cannot help but scream my frustrations out loud. My other three fellow reincarnated souls merely laugh at my plight.

These evil people. Urgh.

* * *

"Do you sense them?"

_'You think it's that easy? This place is not small by any means.' _Xavier grumbled as he tried to help me search for the wild stantlers using his psychic powers.

"They got to be here _somewhere_." I mumbled. The stantlers couldn't be anywhere too far from here. I even double checked that with Akamu and even Volkner himself. He knows his own forest best. If he says that this area of the West Forest is where the stantlers prefer to frequent, then they _have _to be near here.

_'Oh, **DUH**.'_ Xavier replied sarcastically. _'Tell me something I don't know.'_

"Hey, don't be rude."

_'Then keep quiet and let me conc- Uh, Shannon?'_

"Yeah?"

_'Tell me that you know where we are right now.'_

I looked around our surroundings, which doesn't seem to change that much considering that all around us had been trees after trees all along, until I realised that…

_I have no idea where we are._

Xavier seemed to come to the same realisation as well as we both slowly turned our heads to face each other.

_'So.'_

"So."

_'We are lost. **Again**.'_

"Oh, **DUH**. Tell me something I don't know."

_'Don't be rude. And why do things like this always happen to us?'_

"How would I know?!" I gripped the sides of my head and screamed into the sky in frustration. "Urgh! All I wanted to do is to study those stantlers! Is that so hard to ask for?! And now we are **lost! **Weren't you supposed to track their location with your psychic powers?!"

_'I want to see **you **try tracking them on your own!'_

"Aren't you a _psychic?!_ Do your thing!"

_'Aren't you the 'Eye of the Mind'? Do your thing!'_

"My superpower is of no use here! And stantlers aren't psychic types!"

_'Don't they have some sort of minor psychic abilities?! Who knows, they might be receptive to your wonky powers too!'_

"It won't work!"

_'And we won't know until you try! It's not like there's anyone else watching us right now so just do it!'_

I huffed as I closed my eyes and tried to broadcast my thoughts out loud, hoping that there is a psychic pokemon here or two that can hear my plea for help.

_Is there someone here that can help lead us to the wild stantlers? Please?_

I recognised the typical crackling sound of a Teleport being used and felt the displacement of air in front of me. I opened my eyes, only to see that same grumpy hypno narrowing its eyes at me while swinging its pendulum.

Oh no, not this hypno again.

_'Were you the one that spoke into my head without permission? **Again?**'_

"E-Eh?" I blinked my eyes in confusion while taking a few steps backwards, hands held up in reflex to try and placate the obviously annoyed hypno. We had been chased by it once before for reasons unknown and I **_really _**do not want the same thing to happen again.

Although, this is the first time this hypno had actually held a mental conversation with me. The last time we met it simply chased us around while blasting psychic attacks at us. Not a very fun experience.

_'Did you or did you not just did what I mentioned?'_ The hypno growled, causing me to let out a loud 'eep!' while backpedalling a few steps. I glanced at Xavier, hoping that he could help, but he only shrugged in response.

"Uh, I did that?" I winced and quickly backpedalled even further when the scary looking hypno took a step towards me, then another, then _another, and another_.

_'DO NOT do that again.'_ The hypno growled into my mind as it audibly sneered at me. '_The only people who I will ever allow into my head are my Master and Mistress, not a random stranger like you, special as you may be. It's basic **courtesy** among us psychics.'_

"I-I-It wasn't on purpose! I swear!" I quickly replied as I took a few more steps backwards, only to find my back pressed against the trunk of a large tree. I cast a look at Xavier to signal him to do _something_, only to find that like me, he is also terrified of this hypno.

"Um, we are sorry?" I gulped. Is this how I am going to die? In an unknown corner of the West Forest? Will I at least get a tombstone?

Xavier pointed at me using one of his stubby arms.

_'She's the one that called you, not me, so can I leave now?'_

"Xavier! You… You **traitor**!"

_'It's every man for himself right now!'_

"You are a pokemon, not a man!"

_'It's the meaning behind it that counts!'_

_'Just **get out of my sights.**' _The hypno growled threateningly once more as it blasted a Psybeam at us, which we managed to duck just in time. _'The fact that so many trespassers are not living in this forest is already irritating enough. Don't test my patience any further.'_

_'Geez, what crawled up her ass and died? With such a temper I'm pretty sure nobody would want her as a potential mate.'_ Xavier mumbled back to me as we hurriedly scurried away from the hypno, only to freeze in our tracks when a brief explosion of psychic power exploded behind us.

"You couldn't have just kept your opinion to _yourself _until we are _out _of here?" I hissed at Xavier before as one, we both slowly and carefully turned our heads around, spotting the now furious hypno glaring daggers at us.

We both gulped.

The swinging of the hypno's pendulum got even faster.

"Xavier?"

_'The usual?'_

"You think?"

_'On the count of three. Three... ONE!'_

"HEY! DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIN- EEEK! I'M SORRY! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE AND IT'S ALL XAVIER'S FAULT GO CHASE HIM NOT ME- AHHHH! SOMEONE, SAVE ME! NOVAAAA! SOMEONE, ANYONE, SAVE ME FROM THIS HYPNO!"

Damn it Xavier! This is not the time to leave me behind like that! _Someone, anyone_, **_save me!_**

* * *

This West Forest is _hell_.

WE'VE BEEN RUNNING FOR THE PAST TEN MINUTES WITH THE HYPNO OUT FOR OUR BLOOD AND THEN IT RESULTED IN A TREVENANT AND A GIRAFARIG AND A HORDE OF SCARY LOOKING PIKACHUS AND ARONS AND-

_AHHHH! JUST SAVE ME! SOMEONE! **ANYONE!**_

_'Right ahead! I sense someone!'_

"Who is it?!" I screamed as Xavier and I continued to run with an angry group of wild pokemon behind us, chasing after us for reasons unknown. I have a feeling that the hypno is the reason.

_'I can't tell for sure yet! Just keep running!'_

"HEEEEEELP!" I screamed out loud at the top of my lungs but there was no reply. We continued to run with Xavier taking the lead in finding what is possibly our only hope out of our predicament.

There was a flash of white light coming our way, something which I recognised as a Flash Cannon. Xavier and I shrieked as we both dived for the ground at the same time, allowing the Flash Cannon to pass harmlessly above us.

There was a cacophony of noises from behind us and we slowly turned around, only to spot the group of wild pokemon that were chasing us earlier scattering into the depths of the forest once more. In their place is the largest and strongest metagross I had ever seen in my life, floating in midair and staring at me with those steely red eyes, as if dissecting me with its super intelligence.

"Um… thanks?"

The metagross gave its equivalent of a snort as its gaze turned to where it had first flown from. Xavier and I followed suit, only to spot a young man making his way over to us with unhurried steps.

"Are you alright?"

My jaws dropped as I recognised just who had just saved me.

Steven Stone. _The _Steven Stone, future _Champion _of Hoenn.

"W-What are you doing here?" I cannot help but blurt out the first thing on my mind as everything else blurred by in a daze, even when he bent down to help me up onto my feet. Why is a future Champion _here _of all places?!

"I'm here to meet Volkner and Looker. Jasmine too, if she's around." Steven said with a light laugh. "Are you alright? You weren't supposed to drop to the ground, I'm sure Grip wouldn't have hit you with that Flash Cannon earlier, but it's still my fault nonetheless that happened to you. I apologise."

Steven's metagross visibly rolled its eyes from where it is hovering in the air beside its trainer, as if feeling insulted that it _might _have hit me by mistake.

"N-No! If anything, it should be me thanking you for saving me!" I quickly replied before bowing in thanks. "Thanks for earlier!"

"Don't sweat it." Steven replied with a smile before asking another question. "Although I have to say, you do look a little familiar, have we met before?"

"Uh, no?" I winced a little. "I'm very sure this is my first time seeing you in person."

Steven frowned a little as he stroked his chin with a hand.

"But you look _really _familiar…"

"I… might have quite a reputation in certain circles?" I offered, knowing that if anyone knows how I looked like chances are because they have read the research papers which I have published recently. My profile picture is just right there after all with the researcher account I created under the Pokemon Researchers World Association.

"Ah, _that's it!"_ Steven exclaimed in realisation as he pointed a finger at me. "I remember now! You are that researcher that discovered the secrets of how evolutionary stones work! You are… ah! Shannon Juniper!"

"Uh, yes? That's me." I stated lamely as I cannot help but fidget a little under his gaze, still somewhat unused to this attention even after so long.

"It was AMAZING!" Steven exclaimed excitedly as his hands gripped onto my shoulder. "The possibility that your research entails! How you explained the process of how you uncovered the secrets of evolutionary stones that had baffled researchers for centuries! And-"

My mind blanked out as I tried very hard to process what the future Hoenn Champion is ranting on and on about evolutionary stones and what my research meant to the pokemon world. I never did manage to catch entirely what he is going on about and heck, I don't even recall much of our conversation that night, but I do know one thing from our exchange.

_Steven Stone, the future Champion of Hoenn, is a total **geek** for stones._

* * *

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Specialisation: Pokemon Migratory Behaviour, Pokemon Biology**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1) Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2) Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3) Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4) Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5) Carracosta (Koopa), female**


	13. Chapter 13- Mind's Eye to Iron One

"Alright, gather around girls! It's time I teach everyone how to properly use your radios!"

Every one of us gathered around Mary excitedly. We have all seen how soldiers communicate with each other using radios through the various TV dramas we have watched and we are all excited at being able to reenact the same exact procedures ourselves.

As a retired PWL agent, Mary is more than qualified to teach us how to use the walkies properly and how to communicate with each other through the walkie using the correct radio lingo. She walked us through on how to properly use a walkie, how to use a headset walkie, and other similar communication devices. She taught us how to change the channel frequency of our walkies and other general knowledge that she thinks that we should know.

"So I will first go through some of the basic terms that you should know when using a radio. So as all of you might know, we are all each assigned a codename during missions. We will bother ourselves with what codenames you want to pick for yourselves later, so for now, I will use mine as an example. My codename was Tinkerer."

Us girls nodded in understanding, signalling for Mary to continue.

"So during missions, there will always be a command centre monitoring us and the progress of the mission. We call them Command. So if I want to radio a message to Command, this is what I will say."

Mary cleared her throat before speaking into her radio.

"Tinkerer to Command. Tinkerer to Command, Over."

The extra walkie which Mary uses to represent Command sounded out with her voice.

"So as you can see, whenever we start a conversation, we start by stating our name, then the name of our intended party. Thus, _Tinkerer to Command_. Is this part clear?"

All of us nodded.

"And when you are finished with your message, you end it with an _over _to signal that your message is finished. Thus, everytime you finish your message, end it with _over _to signal to the other party that you are done talking for the moment."

Seeing as we are able to catch up, Mary continues with her lesson.

"Now, assuming that I am Command and I have just received a message from Tinkerer, I have to acknowledge that I have heard the message. In this case, Command will acknowledge the message by saying _This is Command. Go Ahead._ When somebody says _Go Ahead_, it means that they are ready to receive the message. If they reply with _Stand By,_ it means that they have heard you but are unable to respond properly. Clear so far?"

Mary then started to walk us through the various radio lingo. Like how words like 'yup' or 'nope' are highly discouraged from being used because they are hard to hear over the radio, and hence _Affirmative _and _Negative _are used in place of _Yes _and _No_. _Roger _means message received and understood. _Say Again_ means asking the other party to re-transmit the latest message. While _Over _means the end of the message, _Out _means that all conversation is finished and the channel is now free for others to use. _Come In_ means that you are checking if the other party is able to hear you and _Copy _means that you understand what was said. _Wilco _means 'I will comply' and _Repeat _is used when you want to repeat or emphasise a certain part of the message.

All in all, it was a very fun and enriching experience.

"Why don't we try it out?" Mary suggested with a gleam in her eyes, and it's obvious that we all share the same thoughts as her from how we are practically vibrating in our seats. This is something that we had only seen in TV series! And now we are trying them out for real!

But first of all, we need to think of our own individual codenames.

* * *

"Tinkerer to Traveller, Tinkerer to Traveller. Come in, Over."

"This is Traveller, Go Ahead, Over."

"How many targets can you see at your position, Over."

"Tinkerer, Stand By." There was a pause on the other end of the line for a short while before Vel's voice sounded out again. "Traveller to Tinkerer, I counted nine, Over."

"Tinkerer to Traveller, Copy that. Please help to bring all of them to our location, Over."

"Roger Wilco, Over."

"Tinkerer Over and Out."

"This is Watcher. Watcher to Mind's Eye, Watcher to Mind's Eye. Please come in, Over."

I quickly fumbled with my radio when I heard Nova radioing for me. Crap, which button is it that I have to press in order to make a reply?

Found it.

"This is Mind's Eye. Go Ahead, Over."

"I have reached the target location. Wh- _bzzt- bzzt-_ do you want, Over."

"Uhm, Mind's Eye to Watcher. Please Say Again, Over."

"Watcher to Mind's Eye, I have reached the target location. What drink do you want, Over."

"Mind's Eye to Watcher. Coffee please! Over!"

_This is so exciting!_

"Copy that. Watcher Over and Out!"

"Traveller to Mind's Eye, Traveller to Mind's Eye, requesting assistance in moving the cargo. I repeat, requesting assistance in moving the cargo, Over."

_Oh my gosh, this totally sounds like something you would hear in a TV series!_

"This is Mind's Eye. Roger that, I am on my way! Are you in the garage, Over!"

"Traveller to Mind's Eye, that is a negative. I am approximately a hundred meters south from your position, Over."

"This is Mind's Eye, I read you loud and clear! I'm on my way, Over!"

"Watcher to All, Watcher to All! Hold your positions! Hippie is on the loose, I repeat! Hippie is on the loose! Hold your positions! Over!"

"Traveller to All, Traveller to All! Roger that! I am under heavy fire, requesting backup! Over!"

"This is Mind's Eye, I am on the way to save Traveller! Over!" I exclaimed childishly while moving from cover to cover in my best imitation of a trained soldier on a mission that is under heavy fire. Childish, yes, I know. But is it fun?

_Oh yes_.

"This is Traveller! Man down! Man down! Hippie is too strong! We are being overrun! Leave me alone! Save yourselves! Run!"

"Tinkerer to Traveller, Tinkerer to Traveller! Stay strong! We are converging onto your location! Over!"

"Nooo! Don't come here! It's a tra- _bzzt, bzzzt_."

"Traveller? Traveller? Tinkerer to Traveller, Tinkerer to Traveller! Come In!"

"Watcher to All, Watcher to All, I have Traveller in my sights! *_Gasp_* She's down! Requesting backup! Requesting backup! We are about to be overrun Over!"

"Mind's Eye to Watcher, Mind's Eye to Watcher, I'm on my way! Hang in there, Over!" I exclaimed dramatically as I ran out of the door.

"Watcher to Mind's Eye, that's a negative! Enemy firepower too strong, I repeat! Enemy firepower too strong! We've only known each other for a short while, but I shall never forget you! Even if my position is overrun I will protect your coffee to my last dying breath, Over!"

"Watcher! Noooo!"

On my way out, I tripped for a short second but managed to maintain my balance. However, I had dropped the walkie in my hand and I quickly bent down to pick it up. Shit, did I just accidentally hit the button which changes the channel frequency? Which channel was our conversation at again? Channel fourteen, right?

I quickly dialed the channel back to fourteen and resumed the conversation.

"Mind's Eye to All, Mind's Eye to All! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! We are under attack! We are under attack! Watcher and Traveller are down, I repeat! Watcher and Traveller are down! Requesting backup ASAP! Requesting backup ASAP!"

* * *

"The Rocket forces will most likely invade from Points A, D, and F on that day, so I suggest that we station most of our forces here. I myself will-"

Steven Stone explained his reasoning behind his suggestion for the manpower allocation to the Captains of the Indigo STAR forces that will be under his command on the big day. These are special agents that have Lance's full complete trust, and he gave command of them over to him in order for Steven to help better defend Olivine where he will be stationed at.

Needless to say, he was also given a radio whose channels can only be accessed by trusted agents of the Indigo's forces and the PWL. He had only just received it today from one of the Captains of the STAR forces during the start of their secret meetup in the West Forest, and he had quickly done a comms check before getting into the meeting.

He certainly wasn't expecting his radio to really crackle to life. His channel isn't supposed to be in use right now.

_"Mind's Eye to All, Mind's Eye to All! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! We are under attack! We are underattack! Watcher and Traveller are down, I repeat! Watcher and Traveller are down! Requesting backup ASAP! Requesting backup ASAP!"_

It took them all by surprise. One of the Captains had jumped in his seat, another already had a hand on his pokeball, and the last one had stood up in response. He himself is staring at his radio in disbelief because he is sure that he _knows _that voice.

"Tinkerer? Tinkerer? This is Mind's Eye! Please Come In! Is your position overrun too?! Nooo! Please don't die! Don't leave me alone!"

Steven directed his gaze towards the three Captains in front of him, silently asking them if they knew _what the hell_ is going on. One gave a shrug, the other shook his head, the last one gave him the silent hand signal that they should maybe check things out.

Olivine shouldn't be under attack _right now,_ right?

Regardless, it pays to be safe than sorry. Steven raised his hand and wordlessly gave them the deployment signal and the three Captains leapt into action, disappearing within the dense foliage of the West Forest. He picked up his radio and gave his reply.

"This is Iron One. What's the situation, Over."

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, and for a moment Steven Stone believed that something _must _have happened until a response was radioed back to him.

"Mind's Eye to... Iron One? Say Again, Over."

"This is Iron One. What's the situation, Over." Steven replied while walking forward. It's Shannon's voice alright, so he signalled to his starter, Grip, to start locating her.

"U-Uh, Mayday! Traveller and Watcher are down! Their positions have been overrun! Tinkerer had gone dark! There's only me left!"

Steven frowned. Tinkerer, Traveller, Watcher? Now these are codenames that he doesn't have a clue about. They are certainly not in the list of codenames that he is supposed to memorise before the start of their mission on the big day.

And since when did Shannon get herself a codename? Mind's Eye?

Somehow, he feels that it suits her.

"Iron One to Mind's Eye, please stay calm. Where's your location? Over."

"This is Mind's Eye! I'm about two hundred meters away from the lighthouse in the six o' clock position, Over!"

Grip signalled to him that he had located the klutzy researcher. With practiced ease, Steven jumped and landed on Grip's back, allowing his metagross to ferry him to his location.

"This is Iron One, Roger that. How many hostiles are in your vicinity? Please describe them as best as you can, Over."

"This is Mind's Eye. Hippies! Hippies are everywhere! I'm about to be overrun! Please send backup, please send backup!"

Steven cannot help but scratch the back of his head. _Hippies?_ What kind of hostiles are those?

The West Forest is huge, but Steven reached her location soon enough thanks to Grip's help. He heard her even before he saw her. Right in front of him, with her back facing him from where she is hiding behind a huge tree, is the Unova researcher, speaking dramatically into her comms and running from cover to cover as if she is really under fire from an invisible enemy.

He is starting to get an idea of what is really happening now. Now that he has time to calm down and think things through properly, he did recall that Mary had informed him earlier today that she will be running the girls through on how to use the radio properly and introduce them to the basic radio lingo. To prevent an accidental clash of conversations, she did tell him beforehand that she will be using channel four for her demonstration. Thus, Steven picked a different channel for his own personal use and also for the STAR forces under his command.

_'Grip. Tell the Captains that it is a false alarm. Inform them that I have things under control and to switch to channel fifteen.'_

That done, Steven leaned his body against the large tree he is using to hide himself and Grip from view, watching with an amused smile on his face as the brilliant yet airheaded researcher spun tales of her glorious battles through the radio while childishly running from cover to cover, fully engrossed in immersing herself in her own valiant story on the 'battlefield'.

"I'm retreating! It's impossible to hold the line of defence! Enemy firepower too strong!"

Feeling playful today, Steven brought his walkie near his face and gave his reply, curious to see how Shannon will continue to develop her make-believe scenarios.

"This is Iron One, retreat is not an option. Hold your line. Reinforcements are on the way, Over."

"Ahh! The Hippies multiplied by the dozens! They are everywhere! I cannot do this!"

"This is Iron One, conducting evasive maneuvers might be useful. Over."

"This is Mind's Eye, conducting evasive maneuvers!"

Steven barely managed to stifle his laughter while watching the Unova researcher doing some sort of… dance? Twists and turns? _Just what on earth is she doing-_ No, _evasive maneuvers_ against enemy fire. Yeah, _evasive maneuvers_.

Feeling up for a prank, he decided to escalate things a little further.

"Iron One to Mind's Eye, Iron One to Mind's Eye. I spotted an airstrike inbound, converging onto your location. You might want to seek shelter or dig a shellscrape, Over."

"Mind's Eye Roger Wilco! Over!"

He continues to watch in silence as Shannon begins to act as if she is digging a large hole to hide herself in. She then jumped into the 'hole' she dug for herself, waiting for the 'airstrike' to pass.

His sides are hurting so much from trying to suppress his laughter. He is barely managing to stand upright as it is. When was the last time he had laughed so hard?

Arceus, how can anyone be so pure?

"Mind's Eye to Iron One, Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! When are the reinforcements coming?!"

"Iron One to Mind's Eye. We encountered an ambush. Stay at your position. I repeat, stay at your position. We are reaching in three mikes. Hang in there. Over."

"Mind's Eye to Iron One, Mind's Eye to Iron One! I won't move, Over!"

And then to his disbelief, she really didn't move for three full minutes. Yes, he counted.

Seeing that he really should bring this radio conversation to a close, Steven silently moved out from his hiding spot and approached Shannon without a sound, who still has her back facing him and holding her comms close to her.

"Mind's Eye to Iron One, Mind's Eye to Iron One. Three mikes had passed. Where are you, Over?"

This time, it's obvious that she had her voice sounding out from his radio where he was standing right behind her. Steven saw how she visibly stiffened upon hearing just how close his radio is next to hers. Her back is still facing him, as though she is too afraid to turn around.

Trying his best not to laugh, Steven Stone put on his poker face and brought his radio close to his mouth, giving his reply. Shannon's own radio sounded out just as he spoke.

"Iron One to Mind's Eye. I'm at your six o' clock, Over."

That caused her to jump from her spot clumsily and turn around, spotting him immediately.

"S-S-Steven?! It's you all along?!"

Steven crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave his best impression that he is not at all impressed by what he saw. Of course, the truth is far from that. In reality, he's about to die of laughter on the inside, but it's not like he will let her know about it.

He slowly brought the radio in his hand in front of his mouth.

"Iron One to Mind's Eye. Misusing military comms is a chargeable military offence that will earn you a sentence of half a year, sending false information is worth at least five years, and inciting needless panic may reward you with an additional three years of sentence. Do you Copy, Over?

He watched in silent amusement at how she visibly paled and stood rooted in shock, unable to formulate a verbal response or to even move. She looked as though she wished for the ground to suck her in and bury her forever.

Crap, did he accidentally break her? Had he went too far in his prank?

Seeing that he had truly lost her and that she had also truly lost all ability to speak for the moment, he took her radio out from her hands and slowly dialled the channel back to channel four, much to Shannon's growing horror.

Maybe he should have held back on the prank a little.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Shannon's radio crackled back to life the moment it was dialled back to channel four.

"-ller to Mind's Eye. Traveller's to Mind's Eye. We are done with the demo. Where are you, Over?"

Steven recognised that voice too. That has to be Velda. So the codename which she picked for herself is Traveller?

The moment Velda's voice sounded over Shannon's own radio through _channel four_ instead of _channel fourteen_, Steven watched in slow motion as Shannon's shocked gaze locked onto her walkie which is now in his hands. In equally slow motion, Steven held her walkie up, showing her the _correct _channel which she should be using before he talked into it.

"This is Iron One. Mind's Eye is two hundred meters away from the lighthouse at its six o' clock. Please send someone to pick her up, Over."

There was a pause at the other end of the line before a reply was sent back.

"Steven, is that you? Why are you on our channel?"

"Affirmative. This is Steven." Steven replied while still looking at Shannon, who looks like she wants to be anywhere but near him at this current moment. Already, she is hiding her steadily reddening face with her hands, not daring to face him.

"As for why I am on your channel, please inform Mary that she should really teach you guys how to not accidentally hijack other channels and send a false alarm to our military forces, Over."

"... We are so sorry."

"Apology accepted. Please send someone to pick Mind's Eye up from her current location. Iron One Over and Out."

"Don't accidentally tune into the wrong channel the next time." He told the stunned researcher as he placed her radio back in her hands. That seemed to snap her out of whatever reverie she was in as she squeaked, jumped up, and ran away from him within a second.

He had never seen someone run away that fast before. He could swear that even the elites in Hoenn's ACE forces paled in comparison.

_'You are enjoying this a little too much, Master.'_

"Maybe." He replied with a grin as he signalled to Grip to bring them back to where they were before they were interrupted by the false alarm, his smile never quite leaving his face the entire time.

She is actually pretty cute. How did he not notice that before?

* * *

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Specialisation: Pokemon Migratory Behaviour, Pokemon Biology**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1) Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2) Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3) Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4) Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5) Carracosta (Koopa), female**


	14. Chapter 14- Crossroads of Fate

I'm not prepared for this.

"Relax, Shannon, all we have to do is to stay here at the West Forest and help monitor the situation."

I gave Mary a weak smile while still fiddling with the Handheld Energy Anomaly Detector, or HEAD in short, that Mary had invented for us. According to her, this is supposed to help us detect any large surges of energy throughout the Indigo, which will help us to pinpoint exactly where Mewtwo will be appearing. While our information indicates that Mewtwo will be appearing at Indigo, it's wise to always have some degree of doubt. Being too trusting is never too good.

The HEAD is not just to monitor where Mewtwo might be, but also the missing Legendary Birds. If they had already fallen into Team Rocket's hands then it stands to reason that Team Rocket will put them to use today. In that case, then we will need to know where they are the moment they made their appearance. We need something that can monitor them in real time.

"It has started." Bill informed us as we gathered around a large screen in Volkner's garage, watching the proceedings of the celebrations being broadcasted live on TV. The police force had just finished their spectacular performance and now it is the Rangers' turn. People are cheering and waving and just… generally being happy.

I am too nervous to be able to share their joy. If only they know what is going to happen later.

"Everything will be fine. Have faith." Professor Elm placed a hand on my shoulder to give me some assurance. I'm probably not doing a very good job in concealing my emotions.

"I'm worried that I might have made a mistake in my calculations somewhere. What if I put in the wrong variable and it skewed the results so badly that it-"

"Shannon. We are going to be fine."

I can only gulp and nod in silence.

_Everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine. Every-_

"The Rangers are taking a little long to appear. It is their turn now." Fuji commented while sipping on a cup of hot chocolate and keeping watch on his HEAD at the same time.

"Probably to create some suspense." Bill shrugged.

The suspense is there alright, but in the end who the audiences waited for turned out to be someone else entirely.

_"Greetings, citizens of Indigo."_

Instead of the Rangers appearing for their performance, the largest screen within the stadium lit up and changed its display. A man with short teal hair greeted us, but what is most striking is the large red 'R' printed on the left side of his shirt over where his heart is.

Ordinary people may not know him, but every one of us present all recognised him due to our recent work. This is Team Rocket's Executive Archer.

It's Team Rocket. They had made their move in the most unexpected way possible.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"The stadium's network must have been hacked. Maybe the control room has been compromised." Bill stated as he quickly took his seat and began to type away furiously on his keyboard. "Whatever Team Rocket is trying to do with this, it cannot be anything good. We need to stop that feed immediately. Not sure how much of a help I can be right now, but I will try to hack into the stadium's network and stop the video from being played any further."

Bill continued typing away. The only sounds echoing in the garage is the sound of typing keys and Archer's voice.

_"Happy National Day! Five hundred years of our founding, built upon lies and oppression! It is an event to celebrate about, isn't it? Happy National Day everyone! Happy National Day!"_

_Happy National Day_. Those words are meant to sound happy, but hearing it from Archer's mouth somehow made me sick in the stomach.

"Where's Lance and the rest? Why aren't they there yet?" Fuji asked worriedly, already standing up from his seat. I could only shake my head, not knowing how to answer.

_"I am Executive Archer of Team Rocket! And today, on behalf of the organisation, I have come to deliver the perfect birthday gift for our nation! What is the perfect gift, you ask? Why, the truth, of course! Nothing but the undeniable truth! Starting from our very own President, Kain Briggs! Everyone, give him a round of applause please!"_

"This is bad." Professor Elm stated. "If Archer starts to reveal everything Team Rocket knows about Briggs, even if it is just _one _damning thing that he had done…"

"The consequences are going to be huge." Mary agreed with a grim look on her face.

"DAMN IT!" Bill slammed his fists on the keyboard he was typing on earlier before quickly taking up a hammer lying around nearby and smashed the CPU in one powerful blow, rendering the computer useless immediately.

"Bill?!"

"I couldn't get in, and our computer almost got hacked instead!" Bill gritted out as he ran a hand through his messy hair in frustration.

"Sorry, the only thing I can do is to destroy the hardware before it has access to everything we have. Data cannot be hacked the moment the hardware is destroyed. Destroying the computer was the only method I could think of in the spur of the moment to stop our computers from being hacked."

"They are not only prepared, they are also organised." Mary stated calmly. "But what are they doing this for? Defaming Kain like that in public? To sway the public's opinion? It cannot be just that. Team Rocket had poured too much into this, they must have another agenda."

The video that is showing Archer's speech to the whole world is still being played live on TV, broadcasted to the entire world.

_"Do you know how Indigo prospered? Do you know how we earn our money, enjoying the riches that we enjoy today? Do you know who we have to thank for that? It's President Briggs! Mr President, do you want to share with us your secret to success?"_

"So the problem is, what is their next step? Right?"

"Team Rocket aims to conquer the entire Johto, and subsequently the Indigo. That is their end game, so we need to think how and why they have decided to make this move. They must be confident that Archer revealing Kain's deeds on TV can help them in their endeavour." Fuji rationalised as a frown marred his face.

"We all know Mewtwo will be there. If we were Team Rocket, how would we use Mewtwo?" Mary asked.

"If I had something that powerful I would use it to take out the largest threa- Oh shit. _Lance_. They are going for Lance." Bill said in growing realisation as we all exchanged looks of horror.

"Lance has his Elite Four with him right now, together with Volkner and Elesa." I reminded them. "They are prepared for this. _We _prepared them for this."

_"No? It's fine, I understand. You are just shy, aren't you? In that case, let me do it for you! Kain Briggs, the man who defied the impossible and became the leader of a nation at twenty-two years of age! The youngest President to be appointed into office in Indigo's history in its most turbulent times! Never losing a single election, the man adored and respected by both regions that made up the Indigo! Now, how did you do that? It's impossible!"_

Despite my best efforts to ignore the video playing in the background, I could not not pay attention to it.

"I have a feeling that whatever Team Rocket is aiming for is not something as simple as taking Lance down." Fuji shook his head in disagreement. "Yes, I know that them wanting to get rid of Lance is definitely one of their goals, but there should be more to this. It will fit Giovanni's modus operandi. He never does things without a good reason, he always manages to complete several objectives in one move."

"Defaming Kain, swaying the public's opinion, taking down Lance, is that not enough?" Professor Elm asked.

"Giovanni is capable of more. I _know _Giovanni is capable of more. I should have expected that he would do something more than simply sending Mewtwo over to Indigo Plateau."

"You couldn't have expected that he would do something so bold as televising everything they know about Kain live on TV."

_"It's simple. You are an expert manipulator, in more ways than one. Your empire is built upon illusions upon illusions, lies after lies! In fact, Team Rocket would never have existed if it wasn't for what you did two decades ago! Today, we are here to tear down your lies and expose the truth to the whole world, live on TV! Right on the day of our nation's founding!"_

"They are really doing it." I gulped.

_"Today, I will tell you the truth behind the founding of Team Rocket, starting from the great economic depression two decades ago! Starting from the extermination of some of the greatest and most loyal minds Kanto has to offer! Many of you here present would have heard of the event, the extermination of SKIP! Separation of Kanto from Indigo through Peace! That was us! That was what Team Rocket was before we were forced to become Team Rocket! Forget everything you thought you know about SKIP! None of that was true, lies spun by our dear Mr President in his last ditch attempt to hold onto his seat of power and we have the evidence to prove it! Today, let me tell you our story!"_

Even within the Indigo Stadium itself, nobody stopped the video from being played. I have no idea if it is because nobody could stop it, or if people don't want it to stop.

Either way, that was how the truth was revealed to the entire world, and we are all here to bear witness.

_"Let me start off by telling the world the story of how our President publicly ordered a genocide in Kanto without the world knowing about it, the genocide that gave birth to Team Rocket."_

* * *

In the end, chaos erupted without us being unable to stop it.

That doesn't mean that things didn't go according to plan at all. In the end, the Indigo forces stationed at the stadium had still managed to swiftly evacuate the civilians there. Last we heard, Mewtwo had finally been freed and had decided to single handedly wipe out all of Team Rocket's Kanto bases and the Rockets in it all by itself, allowing Indigo to focus all our attention to resolving the war that had just erupted all over Johto. Reports are starting to come in, detailing the situation at each and every single city in Johto. The battles are hard and there were many close calls, but most of them should be doing fine.

I am still anxiously monitoring the Johto region through the HEAD, hoping that no unexplained surges of energy will be detected through it. We had even keyed in the energy signatures of Mewtwo's psychic wavelength and the energy emitted by the Legendary Birds using their gathered feathers as samples, because they are the biggest threats to our operation as far as we can think of.

I can monitor Mewtwo's activities using the HEAD through tracking its unique psychic wavelength. It helps that Mewtwo is not bothering to conceal itself, casually throwing around a large amount of psychic power that allows us to track its movements easily. Mewtwo is really in the Kanto region, appearing in one city before disappearing and then reappearing in the next. Mewtwo's stay in each Kanto town and city wasn't very long from what I can tell. It won't be long before it finishes its Kanto tour.

I lost count on how long I had been staying here, staring at the HEAD anxiously yet diligently, hoping that nothing out of the ordinary will happen. Was it an hour? Two? Three? I really couldn't tell.

Then all at once, every single HEAD in the room beeped, causing us all to frantically check just what was wrong.

"The Lake of Rage." Mary gritted her teeth as she looked at the readings coming in from her HEAD. The Lake of Rage is near where Akamu had been posted to, Mahogany Town.

"Is it-"

"No, it's something else entirely." Mary shook her head as she tried to investigate the readings that are coming in rapidly, the figures rapidly escalating to astronomical amounts. Bill had already taken the initiative to warn the Indigo League of this newest development, typing away in another computer.

"These are energies produced from evolution." Fuji stated as all of us began to help Mary in studying the readings as fast as we can. Fuji is right, the readings from the energy spike that we detected are those that could only be found when pokemon undergo evolution. But for such a huge spike in energy to be detected, just _how many_ pokemon are evolving _at the same time?_

"The Lake of Rage… the readings are coming from the lake itself. The main pokemon species that reside in there are magikarp and gyarados. Gyarados cannot evolve further unless you are taking Mega Evolution into account, which shouldn't be possible considering the number of energy readings we are detecting, so that means-"

Mary's words got stuck in her throat and her eyes widened at the realisation of the line of thought she is having.

"The Mahogany Massacre. Team Rocket is recreating the _Mahogany Massacre_ from two hundred years ago!" Bill exclaimed in alarm and stood up in agitation, his palms slamming on the desk.

The Mahogany Massacre was a very infamous historical event that happened around 200 years ago. What sparked the event was the destruction of the delicate balance between humans and pokemon.

Back then, the regions were undergoing a period of industrial revolution. Johto is not any different. At that time, the locals in Mahogany Town were mainly fishermen who fished for a living. However, there was a serious case of overfishing, causing a scarcity of food supply for the wild gyarados that reside in the Lake of Rage. One thing led to another and it ended up with the alpha of the local gyarados population commanding a large horde of gyarados to launch a siege on Mahogany Town in their rage. The rampage lasted for three days and by the end of it, the Indigo League was short of a Mahogany gym leader and a member of their Elite Four, together with half of Mahogany Town.

From then onwards, Governments from all around the world started to enact extremely stringent environmental laws, outlawing any form of urban development that came at the price of destroying the natural habitats of wild pokemon. That was how lasting the impacts brought about by the Mahogany Massacre had on the world.

We have no idea how Team Rocket is able to create a phenomenon where an entire lake of pokemon is undergoing spontaneous evolution simultaneously. It's rare, but it is not like such cases had never happened before. There _are _documented observations of wild pokemon evolving spontaneously and simultaneously when gathered together in large groups.

But never before had something been done on such a scale through human intervention and this is obviously the work of Team Rocket. Gyarados are well-known for their violent temperament, especially just right after they completed their evolution to a gyarados. They are going to destroy _everything _they see.

"I'm heading to the Lake of Rage." Mary stated as she started to walk out the door. Bill caught her by her arm, pulling her back.

"Don't be rash! What can we do even if we go there?! We are not trainers! We will only be a burden to those trainers risking their lives out there!"

"But we can find the source of whatever is causing those spontaneous evolution!" Mary argued back. "Something has to be causing it and _right now_, only we are the ones equipped with the right equipment to track it down! If we hesitate any longer _more _magikarps are going to evolve and it will become an even bigger problem!"

"Alright, assuming you can find the source, how are you going to go to the Lake of Rage all by yourself?! It's a warzone everywhere you go! You won't even make it to Ecruteak!"

"I CAN TRY! **_AKAMU IS THERE!_** I HAVE TO **_TRY _**AND DO **_SOMETHING!_** AT THIS RATE THINGS ARE GOING TO GO REALLY WRONG AND _HE WILL **DIE!**"_ Mary screamed back, tears in her eyes. "I'M NOT ALLOWING HIM TO DIE FOR THIS SHITTY PLACE THAT I HATE SO MUCH! HE IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO I HAVE LEFT!"

Bill remained silent, although his grip on Mary's arm did not relax, not even a little.

"Sorry, Bill, but Indigo is never my home. Never was. Alola is, the Lush Jungle is, Akamu is, but never Indigo."

With that, Mary released herself from Bill's grip and walked out of the door. That action broke me out of my stupor as I ran after Mary.

"Mary, wait!"

I caught up to Mary, who had already left the garage and climbed onto the back of her mudsdale. She was about to take her leave.

"Shannon, if you are here to stop-"

"N-No!" I shook my head vehemently and waved my hands in denial. I know persuading Mary to stay is a lost cause, because through the course of working with her I had seen for myself just how much she loves Akamu. They had nearly lost each other once to an Ultra Beast attack, her reaction to what is going on at the Lake of Rage is understandable.

Given their past, there's no way she is going to sit still now that she knows Akamu will be under attack from the entire gyarados population from the Lake of Rage. There's no way we are stopping her short of tying and locking her up in a room.

"I-I j-just might have a way to get you there safely!"

I knew my words caught Mary's attention when she took a pause. I quickly continued.

"I-I might be able to c-call psychic types to help you out! Just give me a moment! Just a moment!"

I don't know just _what _my gift is exactly, but I do know that I have the ability to call upon the help of psychic types during my time of need. I don't know if there is any meaning or purpose to me possessing such an ability, but if there really is one, I do hope it is to help others.

So, like I had always done, I closed my eyes and prayed, hoping that someone would heed my call.

_'I have come, Mind's Eye. What is your wish?'_

I opened my eyes upon hearing that foreign voice in my head. An aged xatu had silently appeared in front of Mary and I. Mary's mouth is half-opened in shock, as if she is not believing what she is seeing.

"T-Thank you for coming." I stuttered, still not believing that my gift had really worked without anything going horribly wrong. I gestured to Mary.

"S-She needs to head to the Lake of Rage immediately! She might be able to find a way to stop the gyarados population there!"

The wild xatu slowly turned its head towards Mary, its gaze blank yet scrutinising.

_'The future… It is still bleak. I cannot see what is going to happen next at that place where the sea serpents rage, the number of outcomes are many and most are not pretty. What I do know, is that the future can still be changed, that it is possible to arrive at an outcome that is favourable to the world. For that, she is necessary.' _

The wild xatu paused in its words, letting silence fall over us for a short while before it continued speaking within the confines of my mind.

_'Fret not, Mind's Eye, I will lend you my assistance. Just like it is your fate to help save the world, it is my fate to assist you in your endeavour as a psychic type.' _

_'F-Fate?'_

_'Five hundred years. Five hundred years, the world has been waiting for the seven of you for five hundred years. The new cycle of the Seven Sages, the ones who will rise to protect the world. As long as you desire to help the world we will help you with no questions asked, that is our destiny.'_

Xatu's form glowed a blue psychic hue the moment it was done conversing with me, emanating power so strong that the earth around us cracked in response to its power.

Then, the xatu disappeared in a Teleport, and along with it Mary and her mudsdale.

_Thank you_, I thanked the xatu within the confines of my mind once more as I headed back to the garage. I have no idea if it could hear me, but it is the thought that counts.

Hopefully, Mary will be alright. Hopefully, Akamu will be alright.

Hopefully, everything and everyone will be alright.

* * *

**Character and pokemon list:**

**Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper**

**Specialisation: Pokemon Migratory Behaviour, Pokemon Biology**

**Pokemon on hand:**

**1) Beheeyem (Xavier), male**

**2) Braviary (Rogers), female**

**3) Bisharp (Lancelot), male**

**4) Sawsbuck (Bambi), female**

**5) Carracosta (Koopa), female**


End file.
